The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to recognize signs that the Spirit is inviting us to profound change in our understanding of the depth of the relationship Jesus desires with us particularly in times of change.
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| Forward in times of change |
The reading from the Book of Acts describes the dramatic conversion of Saul on the road to 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 Gospel of John places emphasis on the reality of the flesh and blood of Jesus.
* [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
Kyle Lierk notes in seven short verses, Jesus says something about eating six times. It is no wonder, if you ask him, that the “Jews quarreled among themselves” upon hearing all of this. These statements are bold, confusing and, like the place where Jesus was born: gritty!
My sense is that Jesus is inviting those around him, and us today, for a deeply intimate and profoundly personal encounter. He wants us to both consume and to be consumed by him. That requires trust and vulnerability. We like to be the ones in control and he is asking that we surrender our very essence into his substance. By the basic, bodily act of eating, Jesus seems to desire a consubstantial relationship with the human family. It is on us, then, to accept this invitation through faith and action. Where in our daily routines do we find Jesus and how do we absorb and digest what he has to offer us?4
Don Schwager quotes “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)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Acts 9:1-20 asks us to remember, too, that God’s plan doesn’t begin and end with a dramatic conversion. What if Paul hadn’t continued seeking the Lord after his experience on the Damascus road? Most likely he would have returned to his old ways! Remember, it took him ten years before he was ready to go on his first missionary journey—and even then he had his fair share of ups and downs. He knew he had to walk with Jesus day after day if he was going to become the person God wanted him to be. And so do we.
As the refrain to a popular worship song reminds us, “Step by step, you lead me.” Whatever our initial conversion was like, it’s still going on. Today, try to draw closer to Jesus. If you’ve fallen in some way, rededicate your life to him. You don’t have to look back. You just have to keep pursuing your goal: “the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).
“Jesus, I give you my life again today. Fill me with your grace, so that I can follow you faithfully.”6
Friar Jude Winkler explores some details in the account of Saul’s conversion that point to commentary on following Roman Law, and cataracts as a consequence of electrocution. Jesus' requirement for eating His flesh is made more difficult to Jewish tradition by adding drinking His blood. Friar Jude suggests the scandal raised by this passage compels contemplation of the truth being expressed.
A post by Franciscan Media, for the Memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker, reminds us Jesus, too, was a carpenter. He learned the trade from Saint Joseph and spent his early adult years working side-by-side in Joseph’s carpentry shop before leaving to pursue his ministry as preacher and healer. In his encyclical Laborem Exercens, Pope John Paul II stated: “the Church considers it her task always to call attention to the dignity and rights of those who work, to condemn situations in which that dignity and those rights are violated, and to help to guide [social] changes so as to ensure authentic progress by man and society.”
Saint Joseph is held up as a model of such work. Pius XII emphasized this when he said, “The spirit flows to you and to all men from the heart of the God-man, Savior of the world, but certainly, no worker was ever more completely and profoundly penetrated by it than the foster father of Jesus, who lived with Him in closest intimacy and community of family life and work.”7
After decades of observation, Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, can honestly say that the United States is a ritually starved culture. We are too easily satisfied with making a sign of the cross or blowing out candles on our birthday cake. True rituals create liminal space (from the Latin word limen, meaning threshold). We need them to help us consciously spend time at the thresholds of our lives. Sadly, our Christian churches often fail to create such liminal space through authentic ritual. Perhaps that is one of many reasons people are leaving churches in the West. You could even say today that the institutions of Christianity themselves exist in liminal space. Author and pastor Brandan Robertson examines the threshold moment of our current religious institutions.
We are entering a truly liminal space where, for a multitude of reasons, many are leaving the ways they’ve historically worshiped and entering into uncharted territory. On one hand, this is an exciting time in religious history, as we participate in radical and fundamental reforms of our institutions. On the other hand, this process can cause great anxiety for those of us who have devoted our lives to teaching, practicing, and guiding others in a particular spiritual or religious tradition. . . .
What are we to do at such a threshold moment? . . . In moments of transition, we are simply to be. We are to pause and acknowledge that a transition is taking place. Instead of seeking to abruptly pass through a threshold, we are to tarry. . . . A new reality is emerging, but we cannot see beyond the threshold. All we know is that we exist in this moment, where everything is in transition. We may experience a new way of being, but we cannot yet sense what it will look like. [1]8
The call to change is more visible in these difficult times in our society. With guidance of the Spirit we can be open to hear our call as members of the Body of Christ to a deeper relationship with Him and all Creation.
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