Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Friday of the third week of Easter, May 9, 2025

Delivered by Gladys from the Parish of Saint Gabriel in the Diocese of Bandung, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 9: 1-20; Rs psalm 117: 1.2; John 6: 52-59.SPIRITUAL FOOD AND DRINK The title of our meditation today is:Spiritual Food and Drink. When the Lord Jesus Christ for the first time explainedthat His body and blood must be consumed as the food by those who believed inHim, one question that we can ask would be as the following: for all who hadlistened to it, who was the first to understand then eated meat and drank bloodof Jesus? This question really evoked emotionsof Jesus’ listeners at that time. The Jews felt amused and embarrassed. Thedisciples were divided into those who accepted and rejected this teaching. Thecontents of this teaching were really hard to people’s mind. If someone wanted,let him alone come to eat body and drink blood of Jesus. How can there be asacred teaching to become a cannibal, a human eater? But this teaching is actuallyspiritual in its nature. Jesus wants to make Himself spiritual food and drink,in order to produce the spiritual growth of His followers, and finally bringthem arrive at a spiritual achievement, namely a communion with God. Thespiritual food and drink are the words of the Father, the teachings of JesusChrist, and the sacrifice the Lord Jesus must endure. We consume Jesus means weunderstand, believe, imitate, and live with Him. Our reading today from the Acts of theApostles describes a person who took the path to consume spiritual food anddrink was Saul. Even though he was a Jew with duty to destroy the Church whichhad begun to develop, God had chosen him to be His instrument. But before meetingall the goals he had intended to, God rebuked him. He then realized the evil thathe was doing and finally he repented. His life totally changed. Then he musteat the body and drink the blood of Christ, namely the words and life of Jesus.The Spirit of God entered into him and led him to the baptism and making him acompletely new person. His name now changed to be Paul and later became a verycharismatic and courageous apostle. These spiritual food and drink thenbecame the meal for many others later throughout the world. To become followersof Christ of today both as the body of the Church or the community of God'speople and as a personal testimony of Christian life, we need to acknowledgecontinously that the body and blood of Christ is the One who nourishes andsustains us. Just imagine, when you have not met the word of God for some time inthe celebration of the eucharist, you must have experienced a great loss andemptiness. This is a sign that the bread of life of Jesus Christ sustains andnourishes our faith.Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O God Almighty, we give thanks to you for You are the real bread oflife for our spiritual growth and unity with You. May Your Spirit alwayssanctify us. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. In thename of the Father ...