In today’s liturgical offerings, we witness Saul taking a Fall that enables him to soar to the highest of heights, stirring, enkindling, and igniting the hearts of many as he immediately sets out in proclaiming the Good News. Jesus does not flinch in the face of the disbelieving Jews, and the Bread of Life discourse recorded in Chapter 6 of the Gospel according to St. John the Beloved remains for us a treasure and mystery to ponder and assimilate.
Why Are You Persecuting Me?
The famous scene unfolds on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus. And in a flash, Saul is reduced to dire straits on a human level but paradoxically, his spiritual salvation is at hand. The Jesus whom he has been persecuting with unflagging zeal chooses him for a mission that is not for the faint of heart. But first, he must lie in a daze for 3 whole days, it’s his dark night of the soul. Visions unfold, paths cross and his life is forever and irrevocably changed. He’s baptized, receives the Holy Trinity and regains his sight; seeing clearly what he must do. Now, with the same intensity as before, he sets about spending the rest of his life, strength, and breath in obedience to the Lord who first sought him. Paul sets about the mission entrusted to him and the rest, as they say, is history, as he blazes a path not scaled by any other and becomes the beloved Saint Paul we read and revere on a near-daily basis.
Ananias Says Aye, Aye
The role of Ananias should not be overlooked. He plays a pivotal role in Paul’s metamorphosis. His fears about the infamous Saul melt away during his Encounter with God. We can learn from his willingness to trust God, in spite of news reports about Saul’s notoriety and human reasoning causing his spine to tingle and nerves to jangle. He proceeds to the street named Straight and sets Saul on the straight and narrow. In the name of Jesus, by the imposition of his hands, Ananias heals the beleaguered Saul and imparts the Sacrament of Baptism, ushering in the life of the Holy Trinity. We need such holy men and women in our lives, those who can address our blindness and stubbornness, and who point us to Lord Jesus, the Only One who can infiltrate the darkest recesses of our hearts and heal them. May Ananias intercede for us, helping us with our obedience and praying for our salvation.
How Can This Man Give Us His Flesh to Eat?
Jesus doubles down on the disbelieving Jews. He invites them to eat His Flesh and drink His Blood. The result was that many of his followers walked away from Him, complaining that the teaching was too hard for them. This same disbelief continues through the centuries to the present day. There seems to be a strong disbelief rampant in our world today. Without exception, every Saint that walked the earth believed in the Eucharist, instituted by Jesus on Holy Thursday.
I’ll give the last words to the Servant of God Fr. John Hardon s.j. waxing eloquent on the Eucharist and one such saint.
Three hymns which Aquinas composed for the feast of Corpus Christi are among the most beautiful in the Catholic liturgy. They express the unchangeable faith of the Church in the abiding Presence of her Founder on earth. They also explain why the faithful adore Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
● O Salutaris Hostia is an act of adoration of Christ the Saving Victim who opened wide the gate of heaven to man below.
● Tantum Ergo Sacramentum is an act of adoration of the Word-made-flesh, where faith supplies for what the senses cannot perceive.
● Panis Angelicus is an act of adoration of that Wondrous Thing where the lowly and poor are fed, banqueting on their Incarnate Lord and King.
Aquinas
Aquinas, like the Church, never separated the Eucharist as Sacrifice, Communion and Presence. But, with the Church, he also realized that without the Real Presence, there would be no real sacrifice nor real communion. Aquinas assumed that God became man so He might offer Himself on Calvary and continue to offer Himself in the Mass. He became man that He might give Himself to the disciples at the Last Supper and continue to give Himself to us in Holy Communion. He became man to live in flesh and blood in Palestine and continues to live now on earth as the same Jesus who died and rose from the dead and is seated at the right hand of His heavenly Father.
Thanks, Fr. John, and St. Aquinas! If you are among those who believe in the Eucharist, give thanks, for it is a testament to your faith. If you don’t believe it yet, ask for the grace to believe. As Jesus said to the apostle Thomas, he says to us all: Do not be disbelieving but believe. Jn 20:27
