Friday, April 15, 2016

Friday of the Third Week of Easter

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

In the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex, spiritual and physical blindness interplay to the enlightenment of all.  Oedipus’ father, King Laius, is told in an oracle that his son will kill him and marry his wife.  Determined that the prophecy will not be realized, Laius plots to have his infant son murdered.  However, the deed is never carried out.  When Oedipus grows up, he unwittingly fulfills the prophecy.  Then learning of his misdeed, Oedipus blinds himself in shame. In the first reading there is a parallel story of spiritual and physical blindness.

After Saul’s inquisitorial journey is interrupted by the appearance of Jesus, he goes blind.  The infliction functions first as a metaphor of the prosecutor’s spiritual blindness in punishing Christians.  Then the blindness indicates a period of introspection in which Saul may recognize his malice in persecuting Christians.  Finally, blindness with attendant fear serves as punishment for Saul’s zealotry.  When the blindness dissolves, Saul not only knows the truth but decides to make amends for past errors.

Spiritual blindness inflicts most people at one time or another.  We misread situations and cast blame unjustly.  We seek after apparent goods that bring us embarrassment if not downfall.  We miss seeing Jesus in the suffering.  Christ’s light burns away this blindness like an ophthalmologist’s ultrasonic torch emulsifies a cataract.  Renewed by Christ, whom we meet in the sacraments, we can live in the truth as we await the fullness of his glory.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

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

At a meeting a priest once shocked his colleagues by declaring that he had murdered a fellow priest.  Of course, his words were given immediate attention.  He said that he had repeatedly covered for the dead priest when he was drinking all night so that he could not say morning mass.  When the priest died of alcoholic-related complications, the enabler-priest felt responsible.  In today’s gospel Jesus shocks the Jews with similarly descriptive language.

Jesus has already said that he is the bread of life.  He meant that the teaching he received from the Father and passes on to the people must be believed if they are to have the fullness of life.  Now he takes the analogy a step farther.  He says that the bread which he gives is his “Flesh.”  He uses such strong language because his message departs from the world’s in dramatic ways.  Where the world exhorts people to maximize pleasure, Jesus teaches self-sacrifice as the way to eternal life.  He will indicate that his Flesh is incorporated in the Eucharistic bread which is to be actually eaten.  But he does not mean that one can profit from tasting it without believing in him.

We too should be shocked out of complacency with Jesus’ words.  We have been accustomed to think of success as becoming rich and to envy those who attract attention by their beauty.  Taking to heart Jesus’ words, we will reconsider these values.  We will come to emulate the humble who care for others while praising God.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter

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

Jesus calls himself “the bread of life.”  He means that just as the body digests bread in order to live so must one come to Jesus if she is to have the fullness of life.  Later on in the “Bread of Life Discourse,” Jesus will equate coming to him with participating in the Eucharist.  In this passage he intends that the person believe what he teaches.  After all, Jesus is not teaching his own ideas but what he has learned from God, the Father.

Jesus lives among the Jews, but his message is intended for the whole world.  He declares that he will reject no one.  He is saying that no longer are the Jews the exclusive people of God.  Rather pagans and Africans and homosexuals and others that some people cannot tolerate who come to him will be accepted into God’s people.

We sometimes think of ourselves as God’s people because we partake of Jesus in the Eucharist.  We are right in considering eating Jesus’ body and drinking his blood as a distinct privilege.  But we are mistaken if we discount people from God’s chosen family because they do not join us in the Communion line.  It is wiser to judge ourselves as well as others on the basis of love for Africans, homosexuals and others whom many people tend to reject.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter

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

Stephen almost taunts his enemies to kill him.  He sounds like a zealot seeking martyrdom for earthly fame more than heavenly glory.  Jesus had measured criticism for the Pharisees that opposed him. Stephen on the other hand pulls no punches.  But in the end Stephen does conform himself to Jesus quite admirably.

As Stephen is being stoned, like Jesus he prays for his enemies.  Also like Jesus, Stephen entrusts his spirit to God although in his case it is the eternal Son.  God provides a final favorable comparison between Stephen and Jesus.  As Jesus’ death and resurrection ends with his disciples receiving the Holy Spirit to carry on his work, Stephen’s death ends in St. Paul taking note and eventually preaching the Lord Jesus in the Greek world.

God does not want us to seek martyrdom.  That would be both unnatural and foolish.  But God does want us to imitate Jesus’ willingness to forgive.  That involves a dying to self that is not unlike a martyr’s witness.

Monday, April 11, 2016

Monday of the Third Week of Easter

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

A discount supermarket chain started selling milk for ninety-nine cents a gallon.  Of course, the chain lost money on the milk, but it could tolerate the red ink. Its purpose was to bring shoppers into the store where they would buy other commodities not so inexpensively priced.  It used the low priced milk as a sign of the savings customers could obtain by shopping in its stores.  Jesus explains in the gospel today that his feeding of the five thousand had a similar sign value.

He tells the people that the bread he provided was more than physical food.  Multiplied exponentially, the bread served as a sign of the spiritual food which he always provides.  In other words, the bread that fed five thousand points to love of God’s kingdom.  It, and not lobster or rib-eye, gives life to the full.

When we take Jesus’ body and blood at Mass, we should realize that we are opting for him and not the luxuries of this world.  It is to say that his love is what we most relish in life.