3RD WEEK OF EASTER
Psalter: Week 3 / (White)
Ps 66:8-9, 16-17, 20
Let all the earth cry out 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 him self 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: Jn 6:44-51
Jesus said to the crowds: ”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:
Jesus is the bread of the Father, freely given and shared to all. This bread came down from heaven in obedience to the Father so that the world hungry for God would finally have its fill. We can say that Jesus is a type of bread that attracts a particular type of hunger. For not all hunger are alike. It is no wonder that this unique bread of the Father is rejected by many. He is not what they need but something else. Or sometimes they plainly do not know what to make up of their hunger. They do not know what would fill them. It is thus that Jesus speaks of the Father teaching people instructing them and making them aware of their needs. These are the ones who go to Jesus. These are the ones who will find eternal life. And so, ”if today you hear His voice, harden not your heart.” (Ps. 95, 1)
Daily Reflection
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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
Readings and Reflections
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