Friday of the Third Week of Easter
Christ Lives in Me
Liturgical Cycle: A, B, C | Lectionary Cycle: I, II
Introduction
“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” This is the question of Jesus the Lord when he lets Saul, the persecutor, encounter him on the way to Damascus. Jesus identifies himself with his persecuted disciples. From that moment on, Saul will serve the Lord, whose life he will live. It is an encounter that radically changed Saul into Paul.
The Lord speaks to us today: “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood live in me and I live in them.” This will be our encounter with Christ. May this encounter be so deep that it changes us.
Opening Prayer
Our living and loving God,
how could we know the depth of your love,
if your Son had not become flesh of our flesh
and blood of our blood?
How could we ever have the courage
to live for one another and if necessary to die,
if he had not given up his body
and shed his blood for us?
Thank you for letting him stay in the Eucharist with us
and making himself our daily bread.
Let this bread be the food that empowers us,
to live and die as he did,
for one another and for you,
our living God, forever and ever.
First Reading
Paul’s Conversion
Meanwhile, Saul saw only violence and death for the Lord’s followers.
He went to the High Priest and asked for letters to the synagogues of Damascus that would authorize him to arrest and bring to Jerusalem anyone he found, man or woman, belonging to the Way.
As he traveled along and was approaching Damascus, a bright light suddenly flashed around him from the sky.
He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him: “Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?”
He asked:
“Who are you, Lord?”
The voice replied:
“I am Jesus, whom you persecute.
Now get up and go into the city; there, you will be told what you are to do.”
The men who were traveling with him stood there in silence: they had heard the sound but could see no one.
Saul got up from the ground, and when he opened his eyes, he could not see. They took him by the hand and led him to Damascus.
He was blind, and he did not eat or drink for three days.
There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, to whom the Lord called in a vision:
“Ananias!”
He answered:
“Here I am, Lord!”
Then the Lord said to him:
“Go immediately to Straight Street and ask at the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus named Saul. You will find him praying,
for he has just seen in a vision that a man named Ananias has come in and laid his hands on him to restore his sight.”
Ananias replied:
“Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man and all the harm he has caused to your saints in Jerusalem;
and now he has authority from the High Priest to arrest everyone who calls on your name.”
But the Lord said to him:
“Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name to the non-Jewish nations, their kings, and the people of Israel as well.
I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
So Ananias left and went to the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said:
“Saul, my brother, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may receive your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Immediately, something like scales fell from his eyes, and he could see; he got up and was baptized.
Then he took some food and was strengthened. Saul stayed with the disciples in Damascus for several days,
and he soon began to proclaim in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (Mark 16:15) Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the LORD, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!
R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia.
For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.
R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood,
remains in me and I in him, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
The Flesh and Blood of Jesus, Food and Drink of Salvation
The Jews were arguing among themselves:
“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
Jesus said to them:
“Truly, I say to you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.
Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood remain in me and I in them.
Just as the Father, who is life, sent me and I have life from the Father, so whoever feeds on me will have life from me.
This is the bread from heaven; not like that of your ancestors who ate and later died.
Those who eat this bread will live forever.”
He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.
Prayers of the Faithful
– For the Church, that the Eucharist may remain the source of its vitality and of its ability to witness to the presence of the Lord in his community, we pray:
– For Christians everywhere, that they may hunger and thirst for justice in the world, we pray:
– For us here and for all Christians who come together around the Lord’s table, that Christ may unite us heart and soul and make us open tables to one another, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Our loving God,
as a Father who deeply cares,
you invite us to the table of your Son.
He will change our bread into his flesh,
our wine into the drink of life.
Make us one with him,
appease our hunger with his bread
and refresh us with his drink,
that we may live his life
of courage and commitment
and that we may live with him in your love,
now and forever.
Prayer after Communion
Thank you, God our Father,
for nourishing us on the way to you
with the true bread and drink of life,
your Son, Jesus Christ.
In this and in every Eucharist
let him take on flesh and blood in us
and make us encounter him so deeply,
that we may do for one another
what he has done for us.
Let Christ live in us, now and forever.
Blessing
Paul encountered the Lord and he became a totally new person, completely changed. Our encounter with the Lord in the Eucharist should bring about such a change in us. For Jesus told us today: “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood live in me and I in them.” Let him fully live in you, and may Almighty God bless you for this task, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
REFLECTION
Becoming another Christ
In the Gospel today, Jesus tells his hearers that if they do not eat his flesh and drink his blood, they will not have life. “Whoever eats me will draw life from me.”Pope Francis reminds us that the Eucharist is not a mere symbol; it is the real presence of Jesus. When we partake of the bread and wine, our physical senses encounter the divine. It is an act of communion that unites us with Christ and with one another.
During this week, we have reflected on Chapter 6 of John and tried to comprehend the significance of Jesus' call to partake of his flesh and blood. This invitation entails fully integrating Jesus' way of thinking and behaving into our very essence, absorbing the entire person of Jesus. It involves being able to declare, like Paul, "I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me." "Whoever consumes my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him."
The Body and Blood of Christ should not only be associated with receiving communion during the Eucharist. The Eucharist is primarily a communal celebration of our identity as brothers and sisters who embody the Body of Christ for one another and for the entire world. We receive Jesus's flesh and blood not only through the Word of God proclaimed during the Liturgy and the sharing of the Bread and the Cup, but also through every loving interaction within the community. Therefore, the Eucharist is incomplete without the presence of the Body of Christ—the community.
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John 6: 52-59
The Living Bread from Heaven
In today’s Gospel Jesus makes a surprising declaration: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.” These words startled his listeners—and they continue to challenge us today. How can Jesus give us his flesh to eat?
This is not just a figure of speech. Jesus is speaking about the profound mystery of the Eucharist. The bread we receive at Mass is not merely symbolic; it truly becomes his Body, broken for us, and his Blood, poured out for our salvation. In every celebration of the Eucharist, we are not simply remembering Jesus—we are encountering him, alive and present.
To eat his Body and drink his Blood is to enter into a deep communion with him. As Jesus says, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.” This is not just nourishment for the soul—it is life itself. The Eucharist transforms us. By receiving Christ, we are invited to become like Christ: to forgive, to love, to serve, and to give ourselves for others.
This mystery invites two key attitudes: wonder and gratitude. Wonder, because Jesus—true God and true man—gives himself completely to us in something as humble and ordinary as bread. Gratitude, because through this gift, we are never alone. He walks with us, feeds us, and strengthens us for the journey of life.
Do we approach the Eucharist with awe? Do we hunger not only for food, but for salvation—for ourselves and for the world?
Let us turn to the Virgin Mary, who bore the Bread of Life in her womb, and ask her to help us receive Jesus with open hearts and live in joyful communion with him every day.