20150424 THE GIFT OF SIGHT TO RECOGNISE THE PRESENCE OF THE RISEN LORD IN THE EUCHARIST AND IN THE CHURCH

20150424 THE GIFT OF SIGHT TO RECOGNISE THE PRESENCE OF THE RISEN LORD IN THE EUCHARIST AND IN THE CHURCH

Readings at Mass

First reading

Acts 9:1-20 ©

Saul was still breathing threats to slaughter the Lord’s disciples. He had gone to the high priest and asked for letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, that would authorise him to arrest and take to Jerusalem any followers of the Way, men or women, that he could find.

  Suddenly, while he was travelling to Damascus and just before he reached the city, there came a light from heaven all round him. He fell to the ground, and then he heard a voice saying, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ he asked, and the voice answered, ‘I am Jesus, and you are persecuting me. Get up now and go into the city, and you will be told what you have to do.’ The men travelling with Saul stood there speechless, for though they heard the voice they could see no one. Saul got up from the ground, but even with his eyes wide open he could see nothing at all, and they had to lead him into Damascus by the hand. For three days he was without his sight, and took neither food nor drink.

  A disciple called Ananias who lived in Damascus had a vision in which he heard the Lord say to him, ‘Ananias!’ When he replied, ‘Here I am, Lord’, the Lord said, ‘You must go to Straight Street and ask the house of Judas for someone called Saul, who comes from Tarsus. At this moment he is praying, having had a vision of a man called Ananias coming in and laying hands on him to give him back his sight.’

  When he heard that, Ananias said, ‘Lord, several people have told me about this man and all the harm he has been doing to your saints in Jerusalem. He has only come here because he holds a warrant from the chief priests to arrest everybody who invokes your name.’ The Lord replied, ‘You must go all the same, because this man is my chosen instrument to bring my name before pagans and pagan kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he himself must suffer for my name.’ Then Ananias went. He entered the house, and at once laid his hands on Saul and said, ‘Brother Saul, I have been sent by the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on your way here so that you may recover your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ Immediately it was as though scales fell away from Saul’s eyes and he could see again. So he was baptised there and then, and after taking some food he regained his strength.

  He began preaching in the synagogues, ‘Jesus is the Son of God.’

Psalm

Psalm 116:1-2 ©

Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News.

or

Alleluia!

O praise the Lord, all you nations,

  acclaim him all you peoples!

Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News.

or

Alleluia!

Strong is his love for us;

  he is faithful for ever.

Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News.

or

Alleluia!

Gospel Acclamation

cf.Lk24:46,26

Alleluia, alleluia!

It was ordained that the Christ should suffer

and rise from the dead,

and so enter into his glory.

Alleluia!

Or

Jn6:56

Alleluia, alleluia!

He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood

lives in me, and I live in him,

says the Lord.

Alleluia!

Gospel

John 6:52-59 ©

The Jews started arguing with one another: ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ they said. Jesus replied:

‘I tell you most solemnly,

if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,

you will not have life in you.

Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood

has eternal life,

and I shall raise him up on the last day.

For my flesh is real food

and my blood is real drink.

He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood

lives in me

and I live in him.

As I, who am sent by the living Father,

myself draw life from the Father,

so whoever eats me will draw life from me.

This is the bread come down from heaven;

not like the bread our ancestors ate:

they are dead,

but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.’

He taught this doctrine at Capernaum, in the synagogue.

THE GIFT OF SIGHT TO RECOGNISE THE PRESENCE OF THE RISEN LORD IN THE EUCHARIST AND IN THE CHURCH

SCRIPTURE READINGS: ACTS 9:1-20; JN 6:52-59

Both readings today speak of the inability to understand.  This is expressed in the symbol of sight.  The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles speaks of the ignorance of Saul.  He persecuted the early Christians believing that he was doing the right thing.  He was blinded by his passion for Judaism, which he felt was threatened by the new religion.  In a very dramatic and prophetic way, God struck him down with blindness on his way to Damascus.  Thus, he was blinded by the light of Christ.   It was the same for the Jews during the time of Jesus.  They too could not understand what Jesus was saying about eating His flesh and drinking His blood.  Hence, the scandal for them is “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”  They could not see or understand what Jesus was really speaking about?

Ananias too, when he was sent to heal Saul, could not see.  He could not understand why God would want to heal Saul of his blindness.  In the short-sightedness of Ananias, he thought that Saul would, after his recovery, persecute the Church further.  However, God saw something deeper in Saul that Ananias did not.  God saw in the person of Saul that he was really a good man, a man of passion and love.  But he was only blinded.  God knew that the moment when Saul realizes his ignorance and errors, he would be the great apostle of the Good News.  Yes, God always sees in us, broken people and sinners, more than we can see of ourselves.  We tend to judge externally and condemn ourselves and others because we cannot see the deeper reality of life and of ourselves. 

How then can one recover our spiritual sight so that we can see the deeper reality of life?  Firstly, we are told that in the case of St Paul, before God gave him back his physical eyesight, He gave him first his spiritual sight.  But God did it only after Paul had spent three days fasting, praying and reflecting.  Prayer then is the way to see the truth of life.  Unless we reflect on our lives, we cannot distance ourselves from our problems in life.  Spending some time to reflect on our life experiences, be they crises or happy moments, is necessary to enable us to grow in life.  And of course the ideal way of growing in wisdom and understanding is through the reflection of the Word of God, that is, Jesus Himself who is the living bread from heaven.  Only through Jesus, the living bread from heaven, are we nurtured in strength and in wisdom.  The Eucharist is the way to find our union with Jesus, and which can give us life.

Secondly, we are told that God sent Ananias to lay hands on him and to open his eyes.  This means that very often, God sends us people to understand the truth and to heal us.  We are all mediators of God because we are the extensions of Jesus.  In His resurrection, Christ has identified Himself with us, His members.  For this reason, He could ask Saul why he persecuted Him.  For to persecute the Christians is to persecute Jesus, since the Risen Christ lives in us.  This implies that we are empowered to act and heal in the name of Jesus.

Thirdly, Saul was healed in the name of Jesus and was filled with the Holy Spirit.  Faith and trust in the Lord’s power is essential for the power to heal or to proclaim the gospel and make ourselves effective instruments for the Lord.  Without faith in Jesus and His power, we cannot be effective mediators of Jesus.  It is this faith of Ananias in Jesus that healed Saul of his blindness.  Ananias called on the name of Jesus and in the power of the Spirit removed the scales of blindness from Saul’s eyes.

Finally, only those who are healed of their blindness can in turn proclaim the love of Jesus to others.  Without a real experience of Jesus working in our lives, it is very difficult to proclaim that He is real or that He is alive, powerful and love.  Thus, Saul who became Paul because of his direct experience of the mercy, love and power of the Risen Christ, in his life now could go out to proclaim confidently that Jesus is Lord, that Jesus is the Son of God.  Saul’s encounter with the Risen Christ is a necessary pre-requisite before God could used Paul mightily to be His chosen instrument to bring His name to the whole world.  It is the same for us too.  Until and unless we have met the Risen Christ in our lives, we will not be able to proclaim His presence and love.

Let us therefore pray that we will encounter Him more and more intimately each day, especially when we reflect on His word and receive Him in the Eucharist.  Just as Ananias who represented the Church to enlighten Saul in his blindness, let us pray as Church that through the ministry of the Church and fellow Christians, we too will be brought closer to Jesus.  Let our union with Jesus in the Word, in the Eucharist and in the Church, the body of Christ, strengthen our union with Him in love and service.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

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