Word to the Wise
Saturday, April 29, 2023 - 3rd Week of Easter - Sat
[Acts 9:31-42 and John 6:60-69]As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer walked with him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?" Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God." [John]
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2023 ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA, o.p., virgin, doctor of the church
[Acts 9:31-42 and John 6:60-69. These scriptures may vary at Dominican locations.]
The gospel scripture for today is the finale of the Bread of Life discourse. Jesus' teaching on the eucharist was too "hard" for many of his disciples, let alone for ordinary Jews in local synagogues. It comes down to Peter's profession of faith: "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." It was, and continues to be, a theological "line in the sand."
I have told the story often of the young woman who came to me for instruction to enter the Catholic church. When we completed the instruction and she was prepared to be received into the church at the Easter vigil, I asked her what had been the hardest part of Catholic faith for her to accept. She replied immediately, "The Eucharist! If you accept that, the rest is easy."
It is reported of St. Catharine of Siena that in the last seven years of her life, she subsisted on little more than water and the Eucharist! One of her principal images in her spirituality was the blood of Christ outpoured. Although she was, in many ways, a woman of extremes, the Eucharist represented for her the very person and center of her faith - the person of Christ. The Eucharist was more than a mere symbol to her. What is it to each of us? AMEN