Seeing the Life

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary invite contemplation on the role of intuition, transforming encounters and action on how we live as the Body of Christ.

Gather at the Table

In the passage from the Acts of the Apostles, Luke describes the conversion of Saul to become an instrument of God.

* [9:1–19] This is the first of three accounts of Paul’s conversion (with Acts 22:3–16 and Acts 26:2–18) with some differences of detail owing to Luke’s use of different sources… The emphasis in the account is on Paul as a divinely chosen instrument (Acts 9:15).

In the Bread of Life Discourse, the Gospel of John describes the deep level of intimacy Jesus desires with the flesh of humanity.

* [6:54–58] Eats: the verb used in these verses is not the classical Greek verb used of human eating, but that of animal eating: “munch,” “gnaw.” This may be part of John’s emphasis on the reality of the flesh and blood of Jesus (cf. Jn 6:55), but the same verb eventually became the ordinary verb in Greek meaning “eat.”

Maureen McCann Waldron was helped when she learned that the Greek word for “feed” that John used in this Gospel could more accurately be translated as “graze.”

John’s imagery is startling but the invitation from Jesus is very human. If we constantly return to the source of our life, he promises us a real relationship with him. Not only will we remain in Jesus but that Jesus will remain in us. In every day of our lives, that invitation is renewed and if we accept it, we will be fed with a life we could not have imagined. Real presence. Real food and drink. Preparing us to really give our lives as food and drink for others.

Don Schwager quotes a sermon on Abiding in Christ, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

" Jesus recommended to us His Body and Blood in bread and wine, elements that are reduced into one out of many constituents. What is meant by eating that food and taking that drink is this: to remain in Christ and have Him remaining in us." (excerpt from Sermon on John 26,112)

Friar Jude Winkler notes that Paul intuits who is speaking to him. Paul’s actions did not reflect a nervous breakdown but a transformation in seeing the world. Jewish people are scandalized by drinking blood because life belongs to God. In Greek, the Bread of Life text has the sense of being famished for Jesus and devour is very intimate and like marriage where two flesh become one.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, quotes Diarmuid O’Murchu that a great deal about our understanding and care of all human bodies that needs to be transformed.

It will take time to find a meaningful middle ground, the pursuit of sexual justice, and an ensuing empowering sense of intimacy.

Our intimacy in the Body of Christ makes our connection with the source of Life fully integrated with our flesh.
References

(n.d.). Acts, chapter 9 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved April 20, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts/9

(n.d.). John, chapter 6 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved April 20, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/6

(n.d.). Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved April 20, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 20, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved April 20, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/