Friday, April 19, 2013

Friday of the Third Week of Easter

(Acts  9:1-20; John  6:52-59)

Fifty years ago Catholics were strictly forbidden to participate in Protestant services.  Today they may enthusiastically sing Protestant hymns, listen to Protestant preaching, and join hands with Protestants for prayer.  But Catholics should never receive Communion from Protestants.  The reason for this strict prohibition is inferred in the gospel today.

Jesus tells the synagogue assembly that his Flesh is real food and his Blood, real drink.  He is referring to the Eucharist which he will leave for his disciples.  The Flesh is real food because it is made from bread.  The Blood is real drink because it is produced from wine.  Yet it is not bread and wine that his followers consume but, again, his Flesh and his Blood.  Protestants generally do not accept the new substances that the bread and wine become.  But even if they do, there has been a breach in the line of their ministers receiving ordination from Jesus’ apostles.

In some ways relations between Catholics and Protestants have never been better.  Still serious differences exist, and at times the rivalry between us and them is intense.  Because we all claim Jesus as Lord, we should cooperate as much as possible.  We should also pray for the day in which we can partake with integrity and together of Jesus’ Flesh and Blood. 

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

(Acts 8:26-40; John 6:44-51)

Coincidence means that two events happen at the same time and place without being planned.  When two friends meet on an airplane, one of the two may say their meeting was coincidental.  The other might opine that God’s Providence arranged the meeting.  In the first reading today there is such an apparent coincidence.

Some might think that Philip’s meeting the Ethiopian official on the road to Gaza happens entirely by chance.  After all, neither knew of the other when they started out that day.  But the author of Acts believes that God planned the meeting, albeit without informing either party beforehand, since His angel tells Philip to travel that road on that day. 

Coincidence has significant ramifications today in the field of evolutionary biology.  Did God cause the emergence of land animals precisely when plants were evolving which use animals to spread their seeds? Or are the two happenings entirely coincidental?  Our best answer to the conundrum is that yes God is behind all evolutionary developments but He acts without leaving a trace of planning. 

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter

(Acts 8:1b-8; John 6:35-40)

In today’s gospel Jesus claims to be the bread of life who nourishes those who come to him so that they never hunger.  Yet many fret over their needs although they regularly take Communion.  Why the discrepancy?  To answer the question compare Jesus’ offer with a more commonly thought of bread that is often undervalued.

In White Bread, a book published last year, Professor Aaron Bobrow-Strain describes the trajectory of the famous American food.  In the days when bread provided most of the common person’s calories, people needed to be assured that it was not contaminated by soot, sawdust, and other adulterations.  Manufacturing bread using bleached flour provided a product that could be eye-tested for purity.  Automatic slicing enhanced white bread’s utility, and enriching it with vitamins made it the veritable “staff of life.”  As food tastes evolved, however, sophisticates have decried white bread as yokel fare with dietetic and creative limitations.  Boborw-Strain contends to the contrary that it is the food of a democratic society where people, assured of the value of what they eat, can dream of improving their lives through education and work.

Jesus similarly offers himself as the basis of a new kind of life.  Following him we grow in care for one another that lifts us from the competition of natural life and places us in the environment of Trinitarian love.  The struggle that we often have in the process indicates how deeply immersed we are in the world of domination.  Yet the more we acquire Jesus’ ways, the more our hunger for power will vanish.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter

(Acts 7:51-8:1a; John 6:30-35)

A few years ago Clint Eastwood made a movie in which the protagonist dies in Christ-like fashion.  In “The Grand Turino” Eastwood plays a retired auto worker who undergoes a conversion.  Originally hostile to minorities, the man changes his outlook when he experiences the integrity of a Hmong family who move into his neighborhood.  In the movie’s last scene the hero willingly walks into a death trap in order to redeem the life of a young Hmong.  As he is riddled with bullets, he outstretches his arms like Christ on the cross.

In the first reading we see Stephen also dying like Jesus.  As Jesus was unjustly executed so is Stephen.  As Jesus was taken past the walls of Jerusalem for crucifixion, Stephen is stoned outside the city.  Stephen’s last words are paraphrases of Jesus’.  First, he petitions Jesus, as Jesus the Father, to “…receive my spirit.”  Then, like Jesus, he asks forgiveness for his executioners. 

Since death is an inevitability of life, we should prepare ourselves so that we too might die like Jesus.  By rehearsing, “Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit,” before bed every night, we may emit these words with our dying breath.  By daily praying for those who have offended us, we are not likely to have any enemies when we die.  But if any remain, we will easily remember to pray for them as we go to God.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Monday of the Third Week of Easter

(Acts 6:8-15; John 6:22-29)

Just last month a mob of Muslim extremists attacked a Christian village in Lahore, Pakistan, burning down 200 homes.  The outrage occurred after a Muslim boy accused a Christian of blaspheming the prophet Mohammed while playing a game.  Such incidents occur with regularity in that country with its overwhelming Muslim majority and plethora of extremist-religious schools.  A similar situation is reported in the first reading today.

Stephen is accused of blaspheming “’Moses and God’” before the ruling Sanhedrin.  The author reports that his serene countenance should tip off the judges that Stephen is innocent, but because of the prejudice against the growing Christian sect, the judicial body eventually condemns him to being stoned to death.  (An objective observer might also question the prudence of Stephen’s remarks against the Jewish leaders.)

We who value religion must stop and think here.  Truth may call for a reply to outrageous statements.  However, does not justice require a response in kind without turning to violence?  We must speak out with integrity but judiciously when confronted with perversions.  Our goodwill and wisdom will make the validity of our position evident.