First Reading - Acts 8:26-40
Gospel - John 6:44-51
The first reading reminds us that our call as disciples of Jesus is especially inspired and willed by God. This we see in the story of Deacon Philip and the eunuch, where Philip is directed by the Holy Spirit to accompany and guide the eunuch to faith in Jesus. The eunuch, religiously speaking, didn't have an important place in Jewish society, but the baptism of the eunuch by Philip, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, shows that Christianity accepts everyone equally as a disciple of Jesus, irrespective of any state of life. The Holy Spirit becomes the guiding inspiration for every disciple of Jesus in the Church. Therefore, discipleship in the Church is always inspired by the Holy Spirit.
In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus reminds the Jews that they cannot be his disciples unless God the Father draws them to him and teaches them. The Magisterium of the Church has repeated this teaching in Vatican II: “Before this Faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist him; he must have the interior help of the Holy Spirit, Who moves the heart and converts it to God, Who opens the eyes of the mind and makes it easy for all to accept and believe the truth” (Vatican II, Dei Verbum, 5). Once they become his disciples, Jesus will feed their souls with the Bread from Heaven, and this Heavenly Bread is his own Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Eternal Life is reserved for such disciples. This Eternal Life is a Life of love, fellowship, communion, and union with God.
Dear friends, many times we tend to think that we are Christians because we are born into a Christian family, hence there is no inspiration and will of God in them. Well, there is no wrong in it, but at the same time, it is not absolutely correct as well. Our vocation as Christians or followers of Jesus is indeed willed by God and inspired by the Holy Spirit. There are billions of people, but how come we were born in a Christian family and not elsewhere? It's not by chance; rather, it's because God willed it this way. Therefore, our vocation as followers of Jesus is indeed under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The call of the eunuch to faith in Jesus is a demonstration that God has drawn people to faith in Him.
Jesus affirms that he continues to sustain his disciples through his body and blood. The body and blood of Jesus are given to us to sustain us spiritually, and thereby they lead us to eternal life. This reminds us that whenever we receive the body and blood of Jesus, we should receive them with the proper disposition of heart and preparation, for they are no mere bread and wine but the body and blood of Jesus given to us for our eternal life. Our reception of the body and blood of Jesus should remind us that we are spiritually joined to Christ by our reception of them. Therefore, let our every gesture to receive the body and blood of Christ be moved with reverence and love.
May God give us deep conviction in our faith in Jesus as disciples of him and sustain it with his body and blood.
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