Daily Reflection Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter

 I must admit that the scene in today’s first reading, “Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the Church; entering house after house and dragging out men and women, he handed them over to imprisonment,” starkly reminds me of what we are experiencing today, as we see it played out in our daily news.  I realize that a definite lack of discernment pervades Saul’s angry decisions. We know from Scriptural history that it will take a while before Saul responds to God’s call. 



    Yes, we are arrogant and selfish by nature. We enter into a self-pitying mode. Then, finally, we allow ourselves to be open to grace—God’s personal love for us. We also note that the beneficent works that Philip is doing provide healing for the people. Loving and caring for people highlight the goodness of God in each of us—if we allow it to emerge.

 

     We humans get into a rut and emotionally react without thinking, without reflection. Is not what happened in the first century church also happening now?  Mob irrational thinking catapults us into anti gospel teaching. The Spanish American philosopher, George Santayana, told us, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  Our knowledge of world history informs our political decisions for the present and future. Knowing and reflecting on the Scriptures help us to understand and deepen our experience of God in daily life.

 

    Today’s gospel about Jesus in the Eucharist—the bread of life—brought back memories of my own First Communion in May many years ago! In these few sentences, Jesus explains how lavish is God’s love for us. His words are a kind of wake-up call in these times of discouragement. The Eucharist is our spiritual life boat, our anchor. Remembering our own First Communion and adding the many years of experience and prayer enable us to deepen our reception of Eucharist, of Jesus. The grace of that experience will color our thinking, our remarks, our actions. Just as the risen Jesus is not the same as the Jesus before, so we can change in our outlook and behavior by deepening our experience of God. 



    In his autobiography, Pope Francis encouraged us to live this hope for change in our personal and public lives: “We must feed hope through the force of gestures, instead of placing our hope in the gestures of force.”