Friday of the Third Week of Easter
(Acts 9:1-20; John 6:52-59)
For over fifty years dialysis has extended the lives of
countless patients with compromised kidneys.
Like the kidneys, dialysis purifies the blood of contaminants that would
bring about death if unchecked. The
gospel reading today tells how the Flesh and Blood of the Eucharist similarly
extends the spiritual lives of Christians.
The matter has always been controversial as the opening
phrase indicates: “The Jew quarreled among themselves…” The Reformed Church
split with the Catholic Church largely over this issue in the sixteenth century. By accepting that Eucharistic bread becomes
the Body of Christ and Eucharistic wine becomes his Blood, the Catholic Church sees
partaking in this food and drink as nourishing the eternal life planted in Baptism. Without this enrichment, the baptized person
is likely to lose the faith, hope, and charity initially imparted by the Spirit.
We must take care not to trivialize the Eucharist. The Church calls us to partake of it every
Sunday so that Christ’s life might grow within us. We should no more skip Mass than a kidney
patient should skip dialysis.
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