Gospel: April 18, 2024
(Thursday)
3rd Week of Easter Psalter: Week 3 / (White)
Ps 66: 8-9, 16-17, 20
Let all the earth cry to God with joy.
1st Reading: Acts 8: 26-40
An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south, toward the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert road.” So he set out and, it happened that, an Ethiopian was passing along that way. He was an official in charge of the treasury of the queen of the Ethiopians. He had come on pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was on his way home. He was sitting in his carriage and reading the prophet Isaiah.
The Spirit said to Philip, “Go and catch up with that carriage.” So Philip ran up and heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah; and he asked, “Do you really understand what you are reading?” The Ethiopian replied, “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?” He then invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. This was the passage of Scripture he was reading: He was led like a sheep to be slaughtered; like a lamb that is dumb before the shearer, he did not open his mouth. He was humbled and deprived of his rights. Who can speak of his descendants? For he was uprooted from the earth. The official asked Philip, “Tell me, please, does the prophet speak of himself or of someone else?” Then Philip began to tell him the Good News of Jesus, using this text of Scripture as his starting point. As they traveled down the road, they came to a place where there was some water. Then the Ethiopian official said, “Look, here is water; what is to keep me from being baptized?” Then he ordered the carriage to stop. Both Philip and the Ethiopian went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. The Ethiopian saw him no more, but he continued on his way full of joy. Philip found himself at Azotus; and he went about, announcing the Good News in all the towns, until he reached Caesarea.
Gospel: John 6: 44-51
No one can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise him up on the last day. It has been written in the Prophets: They shall all be taught by God. So whoever listens and learns from the Father comes to me. For no one has seen the Father except the One who comes from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Though your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, they died. But here you have the bread from heaven, so that you may eat of it, and not die. I am the living bread from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever. The bread I shall give is my flesh, and I will give it for the life of the world.”
Reflection:“Living bread from heaven.”
Jesus offered himself for the salvation of the world. Today’s Gospel makes this assertion clearer. Jesus was sent by the Father to save the world. Jesus came from God. He is the bread that came down from heaven. In and from eternity, Jesus is turned to God and is always at the Father’s side (cf. Jn. 1:1- 2; 18). Through Jesus, God is revealed. Jesus revealed God as a loving Father. Jesus is sent by the father. He is the living bread from heaven. Hence, it is through him that we now have access to heavenly things. It is through Jesus that we can now call God as Father and relate with him as a family. The question is: are we using this divine accessibility? Is our relationship with God now familial? Or is it still transactional? The good works we do must now be our response to God’s goodness for making us members of his family. Doing something good must no longer be seen as a mere obligation but an acting out of who we really are. When we are able to nourish other people, it is because we have already become, like Jesus, a piece of bread broken and shared.
