Today, 23rd of March, we celebrate
Saint Turibius of Mongrovejo
First Reading:Acts 8:26-40
An angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south towards the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert road." So he set out and it happened that an Ethiopian was passing along that way. He was an official in charge of the treasury of the queen of the Ethiopians; he had come on pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was on his way home. He was sitting in his carriage and reading the prophet Isaiah.
The Spirit said to Philip, "Go and catch up with that carriage." So Philip ran up and heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah; and he asked, "Do you really understand what you are reading?" The Ethiopian replied, "How can I, unless someone explains it to me?" He then invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. This was the passage of Scripture he was reading:
He was led like a sheep to be slaughtered; like a lamb that is dumb before the shearer, he did not open his mouth. He was humbled and deprived of his rights. Who can speak of his descendants? For he was uprooted from the earth.
The official asked Philip, "Tell me, please, does the prophet speak of himself or of someone else?"
Then Philip began to tell him the Good News of Jesus, using this text of Scripture as his starting point. As they traveled down the road they came to a place where there was some water. Then the Ethiopian official said, "Look, here is water; what is to keep me from being baptized?"
Then he ordered the carriage to stop; both Philip and the Ethiopian went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. The Ethiopian saw him no more, but he continued on his way full of joy.
Philip found himself at Azotus, and he went about announcing the Good News in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 66:8-9, 16-17, 20
R./ Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Bless our God, you peoples,
loudly sound his praise;
He has given life to our souls,
and has not let our feet slip.
R./ Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare
what he has done for me.
When I appealed to him in words,
praise was on the tip of my tongue.
R./ Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Blessed be God who refused me not
my prayer or his kindness!
R./ Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Gospel Reading:Jn 6:44-51
Jesus addressed the crowd, "No one can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise him up on the last day. It has been written in the Prophets: They shall all be taught by God. So whoever listens and learns from the Father comes to me.
"For no one has seen the Father except the One who comes from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
"I am the bread of life. Though your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, they died. But here you have the bread which comes from heaven so that you may eat of it and not die.
"I am the living bread which has come from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever. The bread I shall give is my flesh and I will give it for the life of the world."
Through the first part of the Gospel today, the evangelist is synthesizing this important teaching of Jesus that we have been reflecting in the past couple of days. These are the important points of Jesus’ exhortation.
a. The Father in heaven is the initiator and source of all lives.
b. The Father wants to nourish the lives of his people with the bread from heaven.
c. The bread from heaven that gives life is Jesus – who is sent by the Father.
d. Jesus, coming from the Father, is focused on doing the will of the Father
e. And the will of the Father is that no one should be lost; all those who come to Jesus and believe in him enjoy life with Jesus and the Father for ever.
John was confronting the problem of unbelief among the people towards the end of the first century. Therefore, he wants to remind his people through the words of Jesus that no one comes to know Jesus unless the Father draws them to him. Those who refuse to accept and assimilate empathy, compassion, and love of God cannot accept Jesus either.
Jesus promises eternal life to those who believe in him. Eternal life is not something that we attain after our death rather we are already living that life with Jesus and the Father. Whoever believes, lives… lives in Jesus. Jesus is the bread came down from heaven and whoever eats this bread, which is his body, does not die… Therefore, as we believe in God, and assimilate the person of Jesus by eating his flesh, we are participating in eternal life.
To avoid misinterpreting the meaning of Jesus’ invitation to eat “his flesh” we must keep in mind what this term means, in the Gospel of John. The Semitic concept of “the flesh” is not identified with the muscles. Instead, it referred to the whole person but destined to die. In the prologue of his Gospel, John says: “The Word was made flesh” (Jn 1:14), he did not refer to the fact that the Son of God assumed the outward appearance of a man, but that he made himself similar to us, welcoming even the weakest nature of our human condition.
Therefore, the phrase, “Eat my flesh” means much more than eating the Eucharistic bread. It means to assimilate the person of Jesus – and thereby, live as another Christ with flesh and blood. This is the huge challenge that the Lord places before us: to become another Christ.
bibleclaret
Introduction
Luke presents the conversion of the treasurer of the queen of Ethiopia very much in parallel with that of the disciples of Emmaus. The latter had listened to Christ's explanation of the scriptures about himself and then recognized and really encountered the living, risen Lord in the breaking of bread, in the eucharist. The Ethiopian had the scriptures explained to him about the lamb that was slain and the good news of the resurrection. Then he asked to be baptized so that he could encounter the risen Lord.
In the gospel Christ speaks again of himself as the bread of life to be accepted in faith and promises to give the bread of his own flesh in the eucharist for the life of the world, for eternal life.
Opening Prayer
Father,
you draw all people to you
who believe in your Son Jesus Christ.
Faith, Lord, faith it is that we need.
Give it to us, we pray you,
a living faith that we can encounter today
Jesus Christ, your Son,
in your word that you speak to us
in the bread that you offer us,
and in the food that we can give
and can be to one another,
in Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord,
who lives with you and the Holy Spirit
now and for ever.
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord God, we want to live,
live to the full
and without limits or boundaries.
Give us the bread of life, we pray you,
that we may know and love and live,
that we may give ourselves
with him who gave himself
as flesh for the life of the world,
and be raised up with him on the last day
to live with you for ever and ever.
Prayer after Communion
God of the living,
you have given us the bread of life,
that we may eat it and not die,
All thanks be to you, Father,
but make our faith strong and deep
that your Son is with us,
that in him the world can live
a life worth living, a life of hope,
of justice and dignity and love,
a life that lasts for ever and ever.
Blessing
To live, to be alive, to be vibrant with life, that is how we and our communities should be if the Lord is really alive among us. Some early Christian communities called themselves "Hoi zõntes," "those who are alive." Shouldn't we all be? May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
