Present for Life

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite contemplation of the change we see when we enter into our experience of the Presence of God.

The road to...

The reading from Acts describes Saul’s Conversion, Baptism and initial preaching in Damascus.

 * [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. Paul’s experience was not visionary but was precipitated by the appearance of Jesus, as he insists in 1 Cor 15:8. The words of Jesus, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” related by Luke with no variation in all three accounts, exerted a profound and lasting influence on the thought of Paul. Under the influence of this experience he gradually developed his understanding of justification by faith (see the letters to the Galatians and Romans) and of the identification of the Christian community with Jesus Christ (see 1 Cor 12:27). That Luke would narrate this conversion three times is testimony to the importance he attaches to it. This first account occurs when the word is first spread to the Gentiles. At this point, the conversion of the hero of the Gentile mission is recounted. The emphasis in the account is on Paul as a divinely chosen instrument (Acts 9:15).1

Psalm 117 calls on the nations to acknowledge God’s supremacy.

* [Psalm 117] This shortest of hymns calls on the nations to acknowledge God’s supremacy. The supremacy of Israel’s God has been demonstrated to them by the people’s secure existence, which is owed entirely to God’s gracious fidelity.2 

The Bread of Life Discourse from the Gospel of John connects to our celebration of Eucharist.

* [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.”3 

Dennis Hamm, S.J. comments the deepest issue here is that “the real presence” is about the Risen Lord. And our union with the body of the Risen Christ begins with our incorporation into his risen body that we understand as the community of the church.

Risen Lord Jesus, you are indeed our good news that we share with ‘all the world’ by enabling us to participate in your living body, even being your living body in the way that Saul of Tarsus (St. Paul) taught us to understand your real presence in this hungry world of yours, now and forever. Alleluia!4 

Don Schwager quotes “Abiding in Christ,” by Saint 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)5

The Word Among Us Meditation on John 6:52-59 is a thank you for the Eucharist!

 “Jesus, you know that I am not perfect—I have questions, struggles, and doubts—but when I eat your Flesh and drink your Blood, I receive your very life into me, and that changes me. I give you permission to enter into my questions and struggles and to touch them with your peace and assurance.
“As I approach, Lord, I hear the words ‘The Body of Christ.’ And when I receive your Body, my soul is healed. You have the power to remove my anxiety, illness, or heaviness. I have nothing to fear because you are with me. Your Eucharistic table is the table you set before me in the presence of my enemies. As I feast, you scatter these enemies: the troubles I face in the world, my own fallen nature, my sickness and weariness.
“Jesus, I rejoice that you love to enter under the ‘roof’ of my life. You delight in me, and you come to dwell in me because I am your beloved. Heal my soul, and enable me to remain in you!6

Friar Jude Winkler explores some of the background in the first account by Luke of the conversion of Saul. The eating of flesh and blood is a difficulty to Jewish spirituality. Friar Jude declares the mystery of the Eucharist that satisfies the greatest hunger of our heart.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, observes at the Trinitarian level, God is a verb more than a noun, God is a flow more than a substance, God is an experience more than a deity sitting on a throne. And we live naturally inside that flow of love—if we do not resist it.

 The inner radiance of God started radiating at least 13.8 billion years ago. We must realize that we are the continuation of that radiance in our small segment of time on Earth. We can either allow it and let the Trinitarian Flow flow through us or we can deny it, which is to deny the divine image.
This is nothing I can prove to you. This is nothing I can make logical or rational. It can only be known experientially in the mystery of love when you surrender yourself to it, when you grant subjectivity or a blessed I-Thou relationship to every other thing—a plant, an animal, a single tree, the big blue sky, “Brother Sun, Sister Moon,” as my Father Francis of Assisi put it. The contemplative mind refuses to objectify things. It sees similarity, likeness, symbolism, communion, connection, and meaning everywhere. It becomes a fully symbolic universe. Use whatever words you want, but with this vision you will live in a fully alive and congenial universe where you can never be lonely again.7

The “body matters” is a cliche that is deeply experienced in our relationship with Jesus.

Addendum: Remembering those who found God in the body


Sister Teresa White FCJ considers the model of holiness that we find in Damien of Molokai, a Belgian saint who spent half his life in Hawaii and who is known for his ministry to the lepers.

An interesting touch in the play, in keeping with the writer’s portrayal of Damien as a ‘modern’ character, is his ecumenical outreach – though he himself would not have used that term. He sees his vocation to work among the lepers on Molokai as a ministry to all of them, whether Catholic or not. He asks the question, ‘What do you say to a dying leper, begging for the comforting sign of God’s forgiveness?8 

CBC IDEAS pays tribute to Jean Vanier with this encore presentation of documentary series by producer Philip Coulter.

"Community is a sign that love is possible in a materialistic world." Jean Vanier, who founded the l'Arche movement in 1963 for people with profound disabilities, quickly learned that "normal" people have much to learn about being human by watching those we perceive as weak. Jean Vanier died today in France at the age of 91. 9 

References

1	(n.d.). Acts, chapter 9 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved May 10, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts/9
2	(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 117 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved May 10, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/117
3	(n.d.). John, chapter 6 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved May 10, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/6
4	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries - Creighton University. Retrieved May 10, 2019, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved May 10, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
6	(n.d.). Saint Damien de Veuster, Priest (Optional Memorial) - Mass Readings .... Retrieved May 10, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/05/10/
7	(n.d.). Aliveness — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved May 10, 2019, from https://cac.org/aliveness-2019-05-10/
8	(2016, October 7). Damien of Molokai | Thinking Faith: The online journal of the Jesuits in .... Retrieved May 10, 2019, from https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/damien-molokai
9	(n.d.). Remembering Jean Vanier: The Rabbit and the Giraffe, Part 2 - CBC.ca. Retrieved May 10, 2019, from https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/remembering-jean-vanier-the-rabbit-and-the-giraffe-part-2-1.3766420