Because of Me

Because of Me

Friday of the Third Week of Easter

Piety

“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

Study

Hunger overtakes doubt as the theme for the Third Week of Easter – and for this seventh (?) week of the Coronavirus/COVID-19 “stay-at-home” order. 

In our readings, hunger manifests itself as we encounter “eating,” both in the literal and symbolic sense, satisfy the body and soul.  While Sunday’s Gospel showed Jesus traveling and eating with his disciples at Emmaus, today, we see Jesus providing the food for the soul.

Our First Reading tells the history many know well about the Conversion of Saul to St. Paul.  However, there’s a “story-within-a-story” about Ananias. He hears God giving him explicit instructions about going to Judas’ home, and praying over Saul of Tarsus, who has had a vision of his own that Ananias would be God’s instrument of healing for him.

As Colleen O’Sullivan wrote in an earlier reflection, “Saul of Tarsus was a name no Christian wanted to hear.  Saul was ruthless in his attempts to rid the world of Jesus’ followers.  He burst into people’s homes, seizing them and throwing them into prison.  He stood guard over the cloaks of those who helped to execute Stephen.  His reputation preceded him in the city of Damascus.  Just the thought of Saul struck fear into any believer’s heart, much the way thoughts of ISIS trying to exterminate any Christians (among other groups) in their path today horrify and frighten us.”

Ananias did not want to implement God’s plan.  He did not jump on the next boat out of town (a la Job), but he certainly desired that this “cup” passes from him. 

Isn’t there a bit of Ananias in each of us these locked down days?  God and our neighbors ask us to do something that maybe we do not want to do.  Stay inside.  Wear a mask.  Maintain social distance.  Stay away from the sacraments.  Don’t we want to emulate Ananias and tell God why his plan is flawed? We have a better idea (or so we would like to think).

Jesus’ miracle-making days are over. He turns that duty over to Ananias.  But Jesus still has a very “earthy” presence after Easter.  From Resurrection until Ascension, Jesus’ mere presence and desire to be with his friends and eat with his friends is enough.  He did not maintain social distance.  It was a time to be close, to have meaningful encounters.  He ate in Emmaus.  He grilled fish with the disciples 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 the hearing. The Post-Resurrection early church is very sentient as it makes us aware of the physical presence of Christ. No physical distance here. 

All of this “sensual” overload fuels a developing church built upon 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 in the darkness as we light a bonfire outside the sanctuary to ignite the Easter Vigil. Lenten darkness fades away. 

Faith is about keeping the fires of Easter alive all year long, but especially now during the Era of Maximum Telework. 

Faith is about elevating ourselves and our desires above the basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing and focusing on spiritual desires. We must meet the corporal works of mercy, but only as they lead to the spiritual works of mercy.