May 6, 2022 Friday of the Third Week of Easter

 2022년 5월 6일 부활 제3주간 금요일 

오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp 

제1독서

<그는 민족들에게 내 이름을 알리도록 내가 선택한 그릇이다.>

사도행전. 9,1-20
그 무렵 1 사울은 여전히 주님의 제자들을 향하여 살기를 내뿜으며 대사제에게 가서,
2 다마스쿠스에 있는 회당들에 보내는 서한을 청하였다.

새로운 길을 따르는 이들을 찾아내기만 하면
남자든 여자든 결박하여 예루살렘으로 끌고 오겠다는 것이었다.
3 사울이 길을 떠나 다마스쿠스에 가까이 이르렀을 때,
갑자기 하늘에서 빛이 번쩍이며 그의 둘레를 비추었다.
4 그는 땅에 엎어졌다. 그리고 “사울아, 사울아, 왜 나를 박해하느냐?” 하고
자기에게 말하는 소리를 들었다.
5 사울이 “주님, 주님은 누구십니까?” 하고 묻자 그분께서 대답하셨다.
“나는 네가 박해하는 예수다. 6 이제 일어나 성안으로 들어가거라.
네가 해야 할 일을 누가 일러 줄 것이다.”
7 사울과 동행하던 사람들은 소리는 들었지만
아무도 볼 수 없었으므로 멍하게 서 있었다.
8 사울은 땅에서 일어나 눈을 떴으나 아무것도 볼 수가 없었다.
그래서 사람들이 그의 손을 잡고 다마스쿠스로 데려갔다.
9 사울은 사흘 동안 앞을 보지 못하였는데,
그동안 그는 먹지도 않고 마시지도 않았다.
10 다마스쿠스에 하나니아스라는 제자가 있었다.
주님께서 환시 중에 “하나니아스야!” 하고 그를 부르셨다.
그가 “예, 주님.” 하고 대답하자 11 주님께서 그에게 말씀하셨다.
“일어나 ‘곧은 길’이라는 거리로 가서,
유다의 집에 있는 사울이라는 타르수스 사람을 찾아라.
지금 사울은 기도하고 있는데, 12 그는 환시 중에 하나니아스라는 사람이 들어와
자기에게 안수하여 다시 볼 수 있게 해 주는 것을 보았다.”
13 하나니아스가 대답하였다.
“주님, 그 사람이 예루살렘에서 주님의 성도들에게 얼마나 못된 짓을 하였는지
제가 많은 이들에게서 들었습니다.
14 그리고 그는 주님의 이름을 받들어 부르는 이들을 모두 결박할 권한을
수석 사제들에게서 받아 가지고 여기에 와 있습니다.”
15 주님께서 그에게 이르셨다.
“가거라. 그는 다른 민족들과 임금들과 이스라엘 자손들에게
내 이름을 알리도록 내가 선택한 그릇이다.
16 나는 그가 내 이름을 위하여 얼마나 많은 고난을 받아야 하는지
그에게 보여 주겠다.”
17 그리하여 하나니아스는 길을 나섰다.
그리고 그 집에 들어가 사울에게 안수하고 나서 말하였다.
“사울 형제, 당신이 다시 보고 성령으로 충만해지도록 주님께서,
곧 당신이 이리 오는 길에 나타나신 예수님께서 나를 보내셨습니다.”
18 그러자 곧 사울의 눈에서 비늘 같은 것이 떨어지면서 다시 보게 되었다.
그는 일어나 세례를 받은 다음
19 음식을 먹고 기운을 차렸다.
사울은 며칠 동안 다마스쿠스에 있는 제자들과 함께 지낸 뒤,
20 곧바로 여러 회당에서 예수님은 하느님의 아드님이시라고 선포하였다. 

 

복음

요한. 6,52-59

<내 살은 참된 양식이고 내 피는 참된 음료다.>
그때에 52 “저 사람이 어떻게 자기 살을 우리에게
먹으라고 줄 수 있단 말인가?” 하며,
유다인들 사이에 말다툼이 벌어졌다.
53 예수님께서 그들에게 이르셨다. “내가 진실로 진실로 너희에게 말한다.
너희가 사람의 아들의 살을 먹지 않고 그의 피를 마시지 않으면,
너희는 생명을 얻지 못한다.
54 그러나 내 살을 먹고 내 피를 마시는 사람은 영원한 생명을 얻고,
나도 마지막 날에 그를 다시 살릴 것이다.
55 내 살은 참된 양식이고 내 피는 참된 음료다.
56 내 살을 먹고 내 피를 마시는 사람은 내 안에 머무르고,
나도 그 사람 안에 머무른다.
57 살아 계신 아버지께서 나를 보내셨고 내가 아버지로 말미암아 사는 것과 같이,
나를 먹는 사람도 나로 말미암아 살 것이다.
58 이것이 하늘에서 내려온 빵이다.
너희 조상들이 먹고도 죽은 것과는 달리,
이 빵을 먹는 사람은 영원히 살 것이다.”
59 이는 예수님께서 카파르나움 회당에서 가르치실 때에 하신 말씀이다. 

May 6, 2022

Friday of the Third Week of Easter 

Daily Readings — Audio

Daily Reflections — Video

http://www.usccb.org/bible/ 

Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass 

Reading 1

Acts 9:1-20

Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord,
went to the high priest and asked him
for letters to the synagogues in Damascus , that,
if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way,
he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains. 
On his journey, as he was nearing Damascus ,
a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. 
He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,
“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
He said, “Who are you, sir?” 
The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 
Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.” 
The men who were traveling with him stood speechless,
for they heard the voice but could see no one.
Saul got up from the ground,
but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing;
so they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus .
For three days he was unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank.

There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias,
and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” 
He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” 
The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight
and ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul.
He is there praying,
and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias
come in and lay his hands on him,
that he may regain his sight.”
But Ananias replied,
“Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man,
what evil things he has done to your holy ones in Jerusalem .
And here he has authority from the chief priests
to imprison all who call upon your name.” 
But the Lord said to him,
“Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine
to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and children of Israel ,
and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name.” 
So Ananias went and entered the house;
laying his hands on him, he said,
“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.

He stayed some days with the disciples in Damascus ,
and he began at once to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues,
that he is the Son of God.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 117:1bc, 2

R. (Mark 16:15) Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the LORD, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!
R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia.
For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.
R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia.

 

Gospel

Jn 6:52-59

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
“How can this man give us his Flesh to eat?” 
Jesus said to them,
“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. 
This is the bread that came down from heaven. 
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever.”  

These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum

http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html

 

When life doesn’t make sense – then what?  As we celebrate Easter and ponder Jesus’ incredible gift, it almost seems irreverent to even mention a question such as this.  But then again, perhaps this season is the best time of all to consider how Jesus’ incredible gift fits into and dramatically changes all the events of our life.

Saul thought he had life figured out.  He was passionate about his faith and was doing what he thought was right, but God had another plan for Saul.  As we read in today’s story from the 9th chapter of Acts, God dramatically intervened in Saul’s life.  Striking him blind on the road to Damascus doesn’t seem to make much sense on multiple levels.  Perhaps it would make sense if God’s sole purpose was to punish Saul, but that wasn’t it.  As we consider the full story of Paul’s fruitful life we would have to ask ourselves “why choose him in the first place”.  That certainly makes no sense.   The story goes on to a second event which again is hard to comprehend.  God asked Ananias to heal Saul.  Ananias was precisely the type of individual that Saul was after and Ananias was well aware of that danger.  He had to ask himself “why me”, it makes no sense that God would be asking Ananias to heal a famous persecutor of men of faith.  The drama in this story defies logic – none of it makes any sense, yet God’s perfect plan resulted in the development of Paul, the man used so powerfully by our Lord and Savior to reach Jews and Gentiles alike with the Good News of our Savior Jesus the Christ.  Perhaps the real hero of this story, and the one we need to emulate  is Ananias, the man who chose to TRUST God and follow his directive even when it made no sense to him.

The Responsorial Psalm for today lays out a simple directive from our God: “Go out to all the world and tell the Good News”.  One could easily think that this directive is impossible.  How could any one of us possibly go out into “all the world” and how would we accomplish telling EVERYONE about the Good News?  Once again it is not for us to question God.  There were no strings attached to this directive.  We simply must TRUST that God will show us the way and provide us with the wisdom to accomplish our piece of this directive, even if it doesn’t make sense in view of what we perceive as our limited abilities.  Trusting God and following His directives is all that we need to become the person He has created each one of us to be.

It doesn’t get any easier as we move into today’s Alleluia verses and the Gospel reading, both from the 6th chapter of John.  Jesus chose to use the unimaginable analogy “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you.”  Even with Jesus’ further clarifications, this could not possibly have made any sense to the Jews and more specifically His disciples.    From our vantage point today, it still challenges us to truly grasp the deep meaning of this concept.  Yet like so many other confusing things in life, we are simply called to recognize that God’s way is and always has been so much better than anything we could have thought of or imagined.  Praying for God’s will every moment of our lives provides us with the power to accept life especially when things make no sense.  His plan for each of us offers true and lasting Peace and Joy !

Dear Heavenly Father, help us to remember how you have always been with us, even in those difficult times when nothing seems to make sense.  When things look hopeless and there seems to be no way out.  In those times, help us to turn everything over to you and to TRUST in your everlasting love.  You do have a plan for each of us and will indeed work all the details out, while guiding us to become the men and women you have created each of us to be.
In Jesus’ holy, holy name.
Amen

 http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp

INSISTING ON GREAT FAITH

“Thereupon Jesus said to them: ‘Let Me solemnly assure you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.’ ” —John 6:53

Jesus promised He would give us His flesh to eat (Jn 6:51). This is very difficult to understand and even offensive, especially to Jews. Therefore, “the Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, ‘How can He give us His flesh to eat?’ ” (Jn 6:52) At this point, Jesus did not modify or explain His statement. Rather, He repeated it four times (Jn 6:53, 54, 55, 56). In the Greek, the writer of John’s Gospel changed the word for “eat” to a word which can be translated “chew” (Jn 6:53). In effect, Jesus insisted we are receiving His Body and Blood in Holy Communion.

This is not contradictory to reason. For example, a baby in the womb feeds on his mother’s flesh and blood. Similarly, Jesus has given us His Body and Blood to sustain our life in Him. However, the baby does not need to believe in his mother. But, although we see only what appears to be bread and wine, Jesus insists that we must believe that He is really present as the Eucharist. St. Thomas Aquinas maintained that believing in the Eucharist is the most challenging act of faith. Jesus does not want us to walk by little faith or by no faith (see 2 Cor 5:7). He challenges and graces us to live by great faith, especially in His gift of Himself as the Eucharist.

Prayer:  Father, may I believe so deeply in the Eucharist that I will die for Jesus.

Promise:  “When [Ananias] entered the house he laid his hands on Saul and said, ‘Saul, my brother, I have been sent by the Lord Jesus Who appeared to you on the way here, to help you recover your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. He got up and was baptized.” —Acts 9:17-18

Praise:  George spends time before and after each Mass in Eucharistic adoration.

 http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/

 

 Why did Jesus offer himself as "food and drink"? The Jews were scandalized and the disciples were divided when Jesus said "unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you." What a hard saying, unless you understand who Jesus is and why he calls himself the bread of life. The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves (John 6:3-13), when Jesus said the blessing, broke and distributed the loaves through his disciples to feed the multitude, is a sign that prefigured the superabundance of the unique bread of the Eucharist, or Lord's Supper. The Gospel of John has no account of the Last Supper meal (just the foot washing ceremony and Jesus' farewell discourse). Instead, John quotes extensively from Jesus' teaching on the bread of life.

In the Old Covenant bread and wine were offered in a thanksgiving sacrifice as a sign of grateful acknowledgment to the Creator as the giver and sustainer of life. Melchizedek, who was both a priest and king (Genesis 14:18; Hebrews 7:1-4), offered a sacrifice of bread and wine. His offering prefigured the offering made by Jesus, our high priest and king (Hebrews 7:26; 9:11; 10:12). The remembrance of the manna in the wilderness recalled to the people of Israel that they live - not by earthly bread alone - but by the bread of the Word of God (Deuteronomy 8:3).

Jesus made himself a perfect offering and sacrifice to God on our behalf
At the last supper when Jesus blessed the cup of wine, he gave it to his disciples saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matthew 26:28). Jesus was pointing to the sacrifice he was about to make on the cross, when he would shed his blood for us - thus pouring himself out and giving himself to us - as an atoning sacrifice for our sins and the sins of the world. His death on the cross fulfilled the sacrifice of the paschal (passover) lamb whose blood spared the Israelites from death in Egypt.

Paul the Apostle tells us that "Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed" (1 Corinthians5:7). Paul echoes the words of John the Baptist who called Jesus the "Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" (John 1:29).Jesus made himself an offering and sacrifice, a gift that was truly pleasing to the Father. He "offered himself without blemish to God" (Hebrews 9:14) and "gave himself as a sacrifice to God" (Ephesians 5:2).

The Lord Jesus sustains us with the life-giving bread of heaven
Jesus chose the time of the Jewish Feast of Passover to fulfill what he had announced at Capernaum - giving his disciples his body and his blood as the true bread of heaven. Jesus' passing over to his Father by his death and resurrection - the new passover - is anticipated in the Last Supper and celebrated in the Eucharist or Lord's Supper, which fulfills the Jewish Passover and anticipates the final Passover of the church in the glory of God's kingdom. When the Lord Jesus commands his disciples to eat his flesh and drink his blood, he invites us to take his life into the very center of our being. That life which he offers is the very life of God himself. Do you hunger for the bread of life?

Lord Jesus, you nourish and sustain us with your very own presence and life-giving word. You are the bread of life - the heavenly food that sustains us now and that produces everlasting life within us. May I always hunger for you and be satisfied in you alone.

Psalm 117:1-2

1 Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!
2 For great is his steadfast love toward us; and the faithfulness of the LORD endures for ever. Praise the LORD!

Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Abiding in Christ, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

" Jesus recommended to us His Body and Blood in bread and wine, elements that are reduced into one out of many constituents. What is meant by eating that food and taking that drink is this: to remain in Christ and have Him remaining in us." (excerpt from Sermon on John 26,112)

  

More Homilies

April 23, 2021 Friday of the Third Week of Easter