Be Filled

Be Filled

Friday of the Third Week of Easter

"Saul, my brother, the Lord has sent me, Jesus who appeared to you on the way by which you came, that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." Immediately things like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. He got up and was baptized, and when he had eaten, he recovered his strength.” Acts 9:17B-19

"Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my Flesh is true food, and my Blood is true drink. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.”   John 6:53-57

Piety

Receive me, Lord, as you have promised, and I shall live; do not disappoint me in my hope.

Receive me, Lord, as you have promised, and I shall live; do not disappoint me in my hope.

Receive me, Lord, as you have promised, and I shall live; do not disappoint me in my hope. (Psalm 118:116)

Study

Hunger overtakes doubt as the theme for the Third Week of Easter.  This manifests in readings that show eating both in the literal and allegorical sense to satisfy the body and eating to satisfy the soul.  While Sunday’s Gospel showed Jesus asking his disciples for food, today we see Jesus providing the food for the soul.

Jesus’ miracle-making days are over. During the time from the Resurrection until the Ascension, his simple presence and desire to be with his friends and eat with his friends is enough.  He ate in Emmaus.  He ate baked fish with the disciples in Sunday’s Gospel. He ate on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  In addition to tasting, Jesus is into touching (his wounds) and being touched.  He is into seeing (his friends and being seen). He is into hearing and being heard. The Post-Resurrectional early church is very sentient.

All of this “sensual” overload fuels a developing church that is built on desires. Recall the words of the travelers in Emmaus after Jesus departed: “Were our hearts burning [within us] while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?” 

Action

Easter starts with lighting a fire…a small bonfire outside the sanctuary helps to light the candles of the Easter Vigil. Once that fire is lit, the darkness of Lent fades away.  Faith is about keeping the fires of Easter alive all year long. Faith is about elevating ourselves above the basic needs of food, shelter and clothing and focusing on the spiritual desires. We must meet the corporal works of mercy but only as they lead to the spiritual works of mercy.