Acts
7:51 - 8:1 / John 6:30-35
Jesus speaks about
the Eucharist: “I am the bread of life.”
There’s a story about
a poor immigrant family in the 1800s who spent almost their entire life’s
savings for boat tickets to the United States. To save what little money they
had left, they ate cheese and bread in their cabin rather than go to the ship’s
dining room with its more expensive food. According to the story, it wasn’t
until they docked in New York that they discovered that the meals on the ship
were included in the price of their tickets.
Many people
journey across the ocean of life in a similar fashion. They sit in their cabin
and eat cheese and bread rather than partake of the incredible banquet that is
available to them free of charge at each Lord’s Supper.
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How fully do we
appreciate the Eucharist? “The effect of our sharing in the body and blood of
Christ
is to change us
into what we receive.” Pope St. Leo the
Great
****
A telescope has two ends. And depending
on which end we look into, there will be two images of reverse sizes. Looking
into the end from which we would normally look into, what we will see is a
magnified image of a distant object. But if we were to look into the other end,
we will get this feeling that we are looking at the same object through a tube,
and what we get is a tunnel-vision of that object.
In today's two readings, there were two groups of people, and each group was like looking into the two different ends of the telescope.
In the 1st reading, there were the elders and scribes who were infuriated with Stephen for what he said about them - that they were a stubborn people with pagan hearts and pagan ears, resisting the Holy Spirit just as their ancestors did, and that they were betrayers and murderers of the prophets right down to Jesus. They looked at Stephen from the other end of the telescope, and to them he was so insignificant that doing away with him was no issue at all. But Stephen, on the other hand, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on God's right hand. Stephen saw beyond and much more.
In the gospel, the people saw Jesus as a supplier with an unending flow of bread who will satisfy their own needs. What they couldn't see is that Jesus is the mystical bread of life who came to satisfy our spiritual hunger and thirst.
May our eyes be opened to see the spiritual and the mystical dimensions of the Eucharist and come to be filled by Jesus the bread of life so that we will always look for the things of above instead of being too focused on the things of earth.
In today's two readings, there were two groups of people, and each group was like looking into the two different ends of the telescope.
In the 1st reading, there were the elders and scribes who were infuriated with Stephen for what he said about them - that they were a stubborn people with pagan hearts and pagan ears, resisting the Holy Spirit just as their ancestors did, and that they were betrayers and murderers of the prophets right down to Jesus. They looked at Stephen from the other end of the telescope, and to them he was so insignificant that doing away with him was no issue at all. But Stephen, on the other hand, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on God's right hand. Stephen saw beyond and much more.
In the gospel, the people saw Jesus as a supplier with an unending flow of bread who will satisfy their own needs. What they couldn't see is that Jesus is the mystical bread of life who came to satisfy our spiritual hunger and thirst.
May our eyes be opened to see the spiritual and the mystical dimensions of the Eucharist and come to be filled by Jesus the bread of life so that we will always look for the things of above instead of being too focused on the things of earth.
****
Tuesday Easter 3 Week - Liturgy
Introduction
Stephen and the persecuted Christians of the early
Church relive the passion of Christ; they suffer not only for Christ, but also
with him and like him; their attitude is also: "Lord Jesus, receive my
spirit; Lord, do not hold this against them." But Stephen and the first
Christians are sure that death has not the final say: they will live on with
the risen Christ.
Christians are sustained in life by the true bread
from heaven, Christ, who breaks for them the bread of his word and the bread of
himself, for he is "given" bread, sacrificing himself to give life.
Christ is the answer to our deepest hungers. We too should hunger for him and
say, "Give us this bread always."
Penitential
Rite:
-My trust is in the Lord; I will rejoice and be glad
of your mercy.
-You hide me in the shelter of your presence from the
plottings of people.
-Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in
your kindness.
Opening Prayer
Lord our God, generous Father, you have given us your
Son Jesus that we may relive with him and like him his passion and his
resurrection. Through Jesus, give us the courage to place ourselves into your
hands in the trials of life and in death, that one day we may see your glory
and at your right hand your Son Jesus Christ, who lives with you for ever.
General Intercessions
We now pray for all the things that matter, and say,
Lord, hear our prayer.
– For the Church, that its leaders and ministers may nourish the People of God with the solid food of the Gospel, we pray:
– For divided Christians, that soon we may break together the one bread of the one Lord, we pray:
– For all Christian communities, that we may learn to appreciate the tremendous value of the Eucharist and draw from it the strength to commit ourselves to the needs of our neighbours far and near, we pray:
– For the Church, that its leaders and ministers may nourish the People of God with the solid food of the Gospel, we pray:
– For divided Christians, that soon we may break together the one bread of the one Lord, we pray:
– For all Christian communities, that we may learn to appreciate the tremendous value of the Eucharist and draw from it the strength to commit ourselves to the needs of our neighbours far and near, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
God, our Father, for this meal of thanksgiving, we
bring before you bread and wine, the gifts you yourself have given us. They
express our life and our struggles. Let them become the living signs of the presence among us of your Son, that he
may sustain us on our journey to a full and lasting life and joy and dispose us
to give ourselves with him, for the life and happiness of all your people. We
ask this through Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Our loving Father, in the bread broken for us here, we
recognize him who is the light of life, your Son, Jesus Christ. Give us this
bread always, let him be our daily bread, which tastes better when it is shared
with those who hunger for it in any way. Grant this through Christ, our Lord.
