Thursday of the Third Week of Easter
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May 5, 2022"Real Presence"
Our readings from the Lectionary today are perfectly paired as a theological tutorial on the sacramental understanding of Real Presence. How appropriate to find them in this season of Eastertide, where we continue to marvel at the Christ-resurrected presence in our midst.
In Acts, Philip, his Good News itinerary in Jerusalem and Samaria behind him, is now on the desert highway, moving toward Gaza under the compelling urging of the Spirit, agenda unknown. On the way, he meets the Ethiopian eunuch. How we long to know more of the backstory of this exotic figure, this seeker. What was his faith biography? What had taken him to Jerusalem? How had he risen to leadership and power in the house of the Nubian queen? How, in spite of the trauma of his maiming, was he still open to learning, open to seeking new possibilities for his future?
But when the student is ready, the teacher will come. In echoes of the Emmaus encounter with the risen Jesus, Philip too breaks open the Word, making Christ present. Philip has jumped up into the chariot, sharing what Pope Francis calls 'a book like fire! -- the sublime treasure of the revealed Word.' The eunuch comes down from the chariot, transformed, ready to receive his own baptism into the life and death of his newly revealed Lord.
In our Gospel passage from John, Jesus continues his teaching on his identity and purpose. "I am the Bread of Life," he proclaims, this time to an audience with little 'seeking' inclination. But the promise is real for those willing to take their own leap of faith. Jesus will become the living bread that will feed us in this world and the next. Through our Resurrection lens, we claim this promise. The presence of Jesus is not in our memory alone. Our 'Amen' as we receive his holy body and blood from the Eucharistic table is recognition of the power of his Spirit and the witness of his sacrificial love. We celebrate that Christ is intimately and ultimately present to us, making us one with his body, the Church.
Teachings from the Vatican II Council remind us that Christ is really present to us with a 'four-part harmony'
in our celebration of the Mass: in the gathering of the Assembly; in the hearing of the Word; in the consecration of the bread and wine; and in the partaking of the body and blood. Let's give gratitude today for the treasure of this Catholic sensibility of our faith, embracing Christ's ongoing presence as Word made Flesh. And let's commit to taking a hop or two up into the chariot, making Christ's gifts of love, compassion, and healing a reality, a real presence for another.
