20250509 WE BECOME WHAT WE RECEIVE
09 May 2025, Friday, 3rd Week of Easter
First reading | Acts 9:1-20 |
This man is my chosen instrument to bring my name before the pagans
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 at 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.’
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 116(117) |
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 |
My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink
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.
WE BECOME WHAT WE RECEIVE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Acts 9:1-20; Ps 117:1-2; John 6:52-59]
St Augustine in one of his homilies said, “If you, therefore, are Christ’s body and members, it is your own mystery that is placed on the Lord’s table! It is your own mystery that you are receiving! You are saying ‘Amen’ to what you are: your response is a personal signature, affirming your faith. When you hear ‘The body of Christ’, you reply ‘Amen.’ Be a member of Christ’s body, then, so that your “Amen” may ring true!” (St. Augustine, Sermon 272)
This is what the Lord seeks to teach us in His discourse on the Eucharist, the Bread of Life. When He concluded with the statement at the end of yesterday’s gospel, “the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world”, the Jews were scandalized and “started arguing with one another: ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Indeed, it was perhaps the most scandalous statement that Jesus could have made. As it were, it was bad enough to consume the blood of animals, much less human blood as the Jews understood blood as a symbol of life. Blood, therefore, is sacred and can only be used during rituals to symbolize one’s offering of oneself to God through the sacrifice of goats and bulls. No one must take the life of another man.
Instead of withdrawing His statement, Jesus reiterated without mincing His words or compromising His thoughts. In a solemn manner, He said, “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.” In Jesus’ mind, it is clear that His disciples, in order to maintain union with Him, must eat His flesh and drink His blood. Otherwise, they will not have life in them. Eating His flesh and drinking His blood is the means by which His disciples will be drawn into communion with Him. As He explained further, “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.”
It is within this context that as Catholics, we believe in the real presence of our Lord, body, soul, spirit and divinity in the Eucharist which we receive. Jesus made it clear and did not intend it only to be a symbol of His body and blood. Otherwise, He would have told the Jews that it was only a symbol, and they would have been able to accept it. But because Jesus reiterated in no uncertain terms, the Jews were scandalized and many could not accept this teaching. Indeed, “many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’ Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.” (Jn 6:60,66) If Jesus did not mean what He said literally, they would have stayed with Him.
Hence, it must be made clear that every time when we celebrate the Eucharist, we celebrate it as a thanksgiving for Jesus who made it possible for us to be reconciled with His Father by His sacrificial death on the cross. This is why the Mass is not just a thanksgiving but also a sacrifice. At every Mass, we believe that the sacrifice offered by our Lord at Calvary is made present to us. This is what Jesus and the Church mean when at the consecration, the minister says, “Do this as a memory of me.” The memory here does not refer simply to a recollection of the past event that happened at Calvary. Rather, it refers to the “memorial” of the event, which in the scriptures means making something that happened in the past present for those who celebrate the liturgical event. It does not mean that at every Mass, Jesus is put to death again on the cross. Rather, at every Mass, we are brought to that event 2000 years ago as if we were present at that time.
Because the Mass is a memorial of the event, the Eucharist becomes for us also a real presence of Christ’s offering, His body and blood made present in the bread and wine. Thus, we believe in the real presence of our Lord in the Eucharist. It is more than a symbol. In consuming the Eucharist, Jesus lives in us as He promised. He gives us life and He continue to strengthen us through His Spirit living in us. The Eucharist, therefore, is the way in which Jesus makes us one with Him. Only because we are one with Jesus when we consume the Eucharist, we become members of His Body, the Church. So this also explains why at every liturgical worship, we offer ourselves as the body of Christ together with Jesus as the Head of the Church, to the Father.
Consequently, we must draw further implications from this union with the Lord. As St Augustine reminds us when we receive the Eucharist, and when we say, “Amen”, we are not just referring to our faith in the bread and wine as the true presence of His body and blood, soul and divinity. Catholics unfortunately pay lip service, first to the real presence of our Lord in the Eucharist. They receive the Eucharist without a consciousness of who they are receiving. For many, they seem to be consuming a piece of wafer as a matter of custom or routine. There is no personal devotion or reverence even of the Eucharist they receive. This explains why there is no change of life, no transformation as in the case of Saul who became Paul when he recognized that Jesus is His Lord and that He is truly present in the Christians.
Second, when we say “Amen” we are also saying that “we are the body of Christ.” And so it is a double “Amen” that we make when we receive Holy Communion. Not only are we saying, “Yes, it is the body of Christ we are receiving but also that we are the body of Christ.” Christ’s identification with the Church is so real that the early Church were conscious of His living presence in and among Christians. This real identification is brought out very clearly in the conversion experience of Saul. He was then persecuting the Christians, believing that he was doing the will of God, until the Lord appeared to Him in a great light from heaven. “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.'” Indeed, Jesus was one with the Christians and so by persecuting the Christians, Saul was persecuting Him. Jesus is one with the Christians because we are truly the body of Christ.
That being so, then we need to examine ourselves, whether we recognize each other as members of the Body of Christ. The truth is that although many Catholics believe at least doctrinally that the Eucharist is the real presence of Jesus, many do not truly believe that they are members of His body, at least in fact and not just in name. How do we treat our fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord? Many of us lack a real consciousness that as Catholics, we are all brothers and sisters. Actually, it is quite a shame that although we have the right theology, we do not appear to have the practice. Even those in the socialist world consider themselves as comrades, brothers and sisters.
But we often forget that we are the Body of Christ. We go to Church as individuals. We do not care for the interest of our fellow Catholics even at Mass when we exhibit anti-social behaviour. We are not concerned whether our fellow brothers and sisters have a place in the church. We only think of ourselves and our convenience. We fight with each other over a parking lot. We are disrespectful of the wardens and hospitality members who seek to keep the church in order. We are rude and nasty with each other. Instead of finding support, understanding, compassion, kindness and helpful people, we see a group of individuals looking out for themselves. Their worship is between God and themselves, not between God and His Church, the Body of Christ. This is a flat denial of what we claim we believe when we say, “Amen.” The first Amen to the Body of Christ is not lived out in the second Amen to His body the Church. If we truly believe in the real presence of our Lord, we must live it out.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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