Thursday of the Third Week of Easter
Acts 8:26-40  +  John 6:44-51
April 19, 2018

“…the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

Jesus first declares, “I am the Bread of Life.”  Then He describes Himself as “the bread that comes down from Heaven so that one may eat it and not die.”  Third, Jesus calls Himself “the living bread”.  In all three of these statements, Jesus explains that He is not just nourishment.  Jesus is a bread that offers a life stronger than death.

“Life” is what Jesus is as God, in His divine nature.  “Bread” is what Jesus is for us, in His human nature.  It’s through Jesus’ human nature that He reveals His love for us, and allows us to share in His love.

This Bread, in other words, is for you, but not about you.  Through the Bread of Life you grow in the likeness of the divine person of Jesus Christ.  Through the Bread of Life you participate in divine life.

Then Jesus reveals this awesome Mystery even further.  In the very last phrase of today’s Gospel passage, Jesus stakes the claim that makes or breaks His disciples:  not just that He is bread, and not just that as bread He gives life that’s stronger than death.

Jesus declares:  “the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world.”  Jesus is not just “bread”.  He is not just “food for the hungry”.  Jesus is not just bread that offers life.  Jesus is not just bread that strengthens you to survive death.  Jesus is the divine Word made Flesh, and His Flesh is the bread that He “will give for the life of the world.”

Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter
Acts 8:1-8  +  John 6:35-40
April 18, 2018

“…whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

This coming Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, is called “Good Shepherd Sunday.”  We hear Jesus call Himself the Good Shepherd, and think about the many different ways that Jesus is our shepherd.  The Holy Eucharist is the nourishment He feeds His sheep.  We continue to hear Jesus preach about this nourishment during the weekdays of this third week of Easter.

But why do you feed animals?  Many of us have pets, and pets don’t do a lot around the house.  You feed pets just so that they stay alive, and not much else, at least practically speaking.  But you and I are not God’s pets.  God feeds us with the spiritual food of Jesus’ Body and Blood because He has a mission for each one of us.  He means for us to be “workhorses”, so to speak, in His field.

God has a different vocation in mind for each one of us, and we won’t be strong enough to do what God wants from us unless we become more like Him.  We become more like God by receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus, which helps us know and do the will of God the Father.  Pray that we will be faithful to God, and use the strength that we receive from the Holy Eucharist not for ourselves, but to do the will of God our Father in Heaven.

Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter
Acts 7:51—8:1  +  John 6:30-35
April 17, 2018

Now Saul was consenting to his execution.

Each of us needs to ask:  “Has my passive consent to another’s sin ever ‘dis-abled’ God’s Will in the world?”  In the typical artistic portraits of the martyrdom of Saint Stephen, it’s interesting to look for Saint Paul.  Though his passivity stands in stark contrast to the violence with which others are stoning Stephen, his figure in such portraits is still arresting.  Our eyes are drawn to him, perhaps because we can identify with him more than with the cruel murderers.

Often in these portraits, the Most Blessed Trinity appears above in the heavens.  Below on earth is a very different trio of persons, players in an evil act:  the victim, the aggressor, and the enabler.  The evil act involves all three.  As Saint Paul later reflected on his life, he surely pondered his role in the death of the Church’s proto-martyr (that is, the first member of the Church to win the crown of martyrdom).

During this third week of Easter, as the weekday Gospel narratives compel us to reflect on Jesus, who is the Bread of Life, we see our need to allow the Eucharist to enable us to stand fast against the commission of sin in our world.

Monday of the Third Week of Easter
Acts 6:8-15  +  John 6:22-29
April 16, 2018

“…believe in the one He sent.”

In today’s Gospel passage from John, we hear the crowd ask Jesus two questions.  The first question they ask is, “Rabbi [meaning, “Teacher”], when did you get here?”  Jesus doesn’t answer their question, but He confronts them with the fact that they are only concerning themselves about their physical hunger.  He shifts attention from the physical hunger that He satisfied shortly before through His miracle, to the spiritual hunger that He will satisfy later through the Sacrifice of His Body and Blood.

The crowd wants in on the deal, so they ask Jesus their second question, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?”  Jesus’ response is brief.  The work of God is to have faith in the One He sent.  In other words, they do not themselves have the means to satisfy this hunger:  there is no spiritual refrigerator, supermarket, or field for them to go to.  Their spiritual hunger is not only for something to fill the emptiness inside their souls, but also for something to fill the emptiness around them.  For there is nothing around them in the world that is capable of sustaining them eternally.

The Third Sunday of Easter [B]
Acts 3:13-15,17-19  +  1 Jn 2:1-5  +  Lk 24:35-48
April 15, 2018

Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

Jesus declared that His followers are to preach the Good News of the Gospel to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  Jerusalem, of course, was the historical “birthplace” of the Church:  it was there that Jesus celebrated His Last Supper, and there that He died and rose from the dead.  It was in Jerusalem that the apostles waited during those ten days after Jesus’ Ascension for the Holy Spirit to come down upon them from Heaven, to fill their hearts, minds, and souls.

Those days of waiting for the Holy Spirit to come were days of being withdrawn from the world.  Those days were a winter of sorts.  The apostles prayed intently, in order to prepare a place inside themselves for the Holy Spirit to dwell.  For you, then, “Jerusalem” represents both the historical city where the Church began, and the place in your soul where God plants His grace for the sake of its bearing fruit.

When Jesus tells us to preach the Gospel to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem, he means for us to preach the Gospel to as many people as we can, beginning with those closest to our souls:  those within our homes, in our classrooms, and in our neighborhoods.  It’s to the people there that Jesus is sending us when he says, “As the Father sent me, so I send you.”

There are many ways of “preaching”.  We should keep in mind the saying of Saint Francis of Assisi:  “Preach always, and if necessary, use words.”  That is to say, you can preach without opening your mouth.  The Christian’s example is usually more persuasive than his words, since most of us Christians are not gifted speakers.

The greatest example we can offer is forgiveness.  As the Father forgave us through Jesus’ Death on the Cross, so we are called to forgive others.  There are different ways to forgive, but our example of forgiving has to be a Christian example.  There are different ways to forgive.  Anyone with an ounce of humanity forgives others who have hurt him.  The Christian, however, offers forgiveness first, not seeking an apology from others, and not even expecting it at the same time:  just as Christ on the Cross not only did not receive an apology from those around Him, but received instead mockery and scorn.

For us, too, Jesus does not wait to forgive us until we are good enough to appear before Him and offer an apology.  He offers to cleanse us of our sinfulness when we are yet babies, unable even to speak or realize that we are born into the world as sinful members of the human family.  We in our turn should offer forgiveness from our hearts and through our words and actions before someone who has wronged us even asks for it.  This is the message that alone can bring peace to the world, and that have the power to make present in our own day and age the words of Jesus:  “Peace be with you.”

Saturday of the Second Week of Easter
Acts 6:1-7  +  John 6:16-21
April 14, 2018

“It is I.  Do not be afraid.”

How can the presence of Jesus cause fear in people?  Contrast today’s Gospel passage with the scene of the Annunciation.

Jesus says to the apostles in today’s Gospel passage what the Archangel Gabriel says to Mary:  “Do not be afraid!”  Is it odd that God’s Presence—or even the news of His desire to come and be present—so often causes fear?

Do you yourself feel fear when you sense God’s desire to enter into your “boat”?  Can you welcome Him with the faith and trust of our Blessed Mother?  What other parallels are there between today’s Gospel passage and the Annunciation?

One parallel would be between the physical structure of the boat in today’s Gospel passage and the physical and spiritual dimensions of Mary as a person.  The parallel is not exact.  But a boat (or to use an archaic word, “barque”) is used in Catholic theology as a symbol for the Church, in which dwell the members of the Body of Christ.

Mary, as the Theotokos or “God-bearer”, is the Mother of Christ and therefore the Mother of the Church and all her members.  Continue to pray to our Blessed Mother throughout the remainder of Easter, asking that through her intercession, fear may be replaced by fire in your heart:  the power of the Holy Spirit.

Friday of the Second Week of Easter
Acts 5:34-42  +  John 6:1-15
April 13, 2018

…He withdrew again to the mountain alone.

For more than a week, beginning today, our Gospel passage at weekday Mass will come from the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel account.  Read this chapter in its entirety each day next week.

In the first fifteen verses of John 6, Jesus shows His fellow Israelites that the Law of Moses is not enough.  The Law of Moses cannot fulfill the human person and cannot offer eternal life.  The people in the crowd who witness this new miracle of Jesus multiplying the loaves are attracted all the more to Jesus.  They recognize Jesus as the Prophet, one even greater than Moses.  They believe that He can be their king in this world.

But what does Jesus instantly do?  He withdraws to the mountain alone.  Moses in the desert responded to the grumbling of the Israelites by drawing manna from Heaven.  But this did not stop their grumbling.  Throughout the forty years of Israel’s wandering through the desert, Moses had constantly to meet the needs of the Israelites as they continued to grumble.  It was as if Moses was the only one who could truly keep sight of their true goal, the Promised Land:  a land overflowing with milk and honey, where there would be no more hunger, and where they would be truly filled.

But even after the Israelites reached this Promised Land, they grew over the centuries to believe that their life there was the best God had to offer.  They did not realize that their covenant with God was about to be fulfilled by a new and everlasting covenant.  They did not realize that the Word of God, present in the Scriptures, had become flesh and was standing in their midst, offering to lead them towards eternal life.

Thursday of the Second Week of Easter
Acts 5:27-33  +  John 3:31-36
April 12, 2018

“We must obey God rather than men!”

How does the Church need the Gift of the Holy Spirit today?  To answer that, consider that baptism is not a private experience.  It washes away not only one’s own personal sins, but also the sin of Adam and Eve.  That original sin has been shared by all members of the human race through all generations, except Mary and Jesus.  Just as this washing away of death is both personal and communal, so is the bringing of new life.  The individual finds his salvation through his membership in the Body of Christ, and through participating in her saving mission.

This Church, the Body of Christ, is the answer to the questions raised in today’s readings.  In the Gospel passage, we hear that there’s a difference between the type of person who speaks of earthly things, and the type of person who speaks of God.  Peter himself, the first visible head of the Church, says ultimately the same thing in Acts.  In front of Jewish officials, Peter offers an explanation for the apostles disobeying the officials:  “We must obey God rather than men!”  But these officials were supposed to be the representatives of God!

As is true of the person of Jesus Christ, who is true God and true man, it’s easy to become confused about the nature of the Church.  Who, as a member of the Church, speaks merely as a human, and who speaks for God?  Those who are looked upon as representatives of the Church know how easily their offenses can be taken as the offenses of the Church.  Certainly if this confusion is sometimes a mistake, it is also at times correct.

The Church can give offense through her sinful members.  From the day of Pentecost, the Church has not been perfect.  As we prepare ourselves for the celebration of Pentecost, we beg the Holy Spirit for those gifts that will allow us to be seen as pure icons of our Crucified and Risen Lord.

St. Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr
Acts 5:17-26  +  John 3:16-21
April 11, 2018

But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

What is the meaning of a single act done by a Christian?  This might seem so simple a question as to be dismissed, but it’s really at the heart of living as a Christian.  A short yet true answer might be that the “Christian act” is “done in God”:  that is, within the Mystical Body of Christ.  In fact, it is done by Christ through the Christian.

Acts of the Apostles offers many examples for us to ponder.  This book also illustrates the natural consequences of “doing works in God”:  misunderstanding, persecution, and eventually liberation.  This book presents Saint Paul above the other apostles as an example of these dynamics.  Although his martyrdom in Rome is not recounted in Acts, Paul’s willingness to embrace martyrdom is his ultimate example of “living the truth”.

Read today’s First Reading as an illustration of your own vocation.  Recognize in the apostles’ imprisonment the dangers posed to you by living your vocation authentically.  Recognize in their being freed the consolations that you will receive in this world, even short of the reward of Heaven.