IMPORTANT TRUTH
Saul was persecuting Christians. Jesus declared quite plainly, "I am
Jesus, the one you are persecuting."
When Jesus said to "eat My Flesh and drink My Blood," He
invites us to take His life into the very center of our being.
Today's readings
couple an important truth concerning the presence of Christ in people and in
the Eucharist. The readings help us to see how Jesus Christ is truly the center
and the heart of Christianity.
Today we read in
Acts about St. Paul's conversion. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith wrote on June 26, 2000: "[it is] Christ's proclamation [of] the
Father's love which leads men and women to conversion and bestows the grace
required to abandon oneself to Him with filial devotion. And of course, this
would also include the deep love for the Eucharist, which feeds us on our
journey.
Saul was
persecuting Christians. On the road to Damascus, he was struck to the ground
and heard a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" It was
the voice of Jesus Christ. This story took place after the death and
resurrection of Jesus. Saul had never even seen Jesus before His death on the
Cross. And yet Jesus was accusing Paul of persecuting Him. The reason is that
Jesus truly lives in us, the members of His Church. Note that Jesus did not say
that it was as if Paul were persecuting Him or that He considered what was done
to His followers as having been done to Himself. He declared quite plainly,
"I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting."
For Christians, it
makes even more pointed the solidarity of the human race which we have from our
common origin. It tells us that the persecuted Christians of the Sudan, the
homeless of our big cities and the victims of poverty are part of the one Body
of Christ, the Risen Christ. We baptized believers and the Eucharistic Body and
Blood of Christ are all one, as members united with our Head, Christ. The
reverence we show to theconsecrated Species under the appearances of bread and
wine at Holy Mass must be matched by similar reverence and love for our family
and those around us everyday. The Body of Christ is more present than we
perhaps imagine; we may limit the Presence too much to the altar or tabernacle
alone.
Jesus in the Gospel
proclaims, "My Flesh is real food and My Blood is real drink" (Jn
6:55). We must take these words literally, for Jesus is truly present in the
Holy Eucharist, our spiritual food and drink.
Our faith must be
complete. As we believe that Jesus is present in the Eucharist, so we must
believe that He is present in His people. The two truths must be coupled as
one, for they are in a sense the two sides of one coin. When Jesus said to
"eat My Flesh and drink My 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.