Thursday, May 5, 2022

 

Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

 (Acts 8:26-40; John 6:44-51)

A university professor tells of the importance of a good teacher.  She writes that a friend had the most difficult time understanding St. Augustine’s Confessions when he first read it in college.  He knew it was an important book but could not appreciate its quality.  Rather than give up, he sought the help of a professor who guided his study so that it became profitable.  In the reading from Acts today Philip serves as such a guide.

 The Ethiopian magistrate is reading one of the “Suffering Servant” passages in the prophet Isaiah.  Like everyone else, the Ethiopian asks to whom the passage refers.  For Christians such as Philip the question is easy to answer.  Jesus passion and death perfectly parallels the trajectory of Isaiah’s “Suffering Servant.” Philip proceeds to tell the man more about Jesus and eventually baptizes him.

 The Church needs catechists such as Philip to assist lay people today in the study of Scripture.  The project can be tremendously fruitful, but guides are indispensable if it is to get off the ground.  With such help we will see Jesus in the Old Testament as well as the New.  He will reveal himself as the one who came down from heaven to tell us about God.

Friday, May 6, 2022

 Friday of the Third Week of Easter

(Acts 9:1-20; John 6:52-59)

At the beginning of John’s gospel, we are told, “…the Word became flesh, and made his dwelling among us.”  We have access to the Word by means of Baptism.  Through this sacrament we share in the life of the Father and the Son.  In today’s passage Jesus tells his Jewish deniers that the same flesh nurtures us so that his life may grow within us.  Like an infant cannot develop without her mother’s milk, we cannot develop without the Eucharist.

We can see the effect of this new life and its growth in the reading from Acts today.  Paul, full of religious zeal but without Christ in his heart, wants to persecute Christians.  Then he has a direct encounter with the Lord which leads to his Baptism.  For the rest of his life Paul never seeks the persecution of others. Rather he preaches the love of Christ who gave his life for the salvation of the world.

People will object to our scenario of conversion to Christ and commitment to love of others because the Church has apparently persecuted non-believers through the ages.  Most often these persecutions were conducted by the state which had reason to maintain a unified society.  Nevertheless, zealous people have been found in the Church who have insisted upon if not carried out persecution.  We can only ask forgiveness for these aberrations and pray they never happen again.