St. Catherine of Siena, virgin & doctor 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Acts 8: 1b-8

Saul was there, approving his murder.

This was the beginning of a great persecution against the Church in Jerusalem. All, except the apos­tles, were scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria.   Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.  Saul meanwhile was trying to destroy the Church; he entered house after house and dragged off men and women and had them put in jail.

 At the same time those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to a town of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. All the people paid close attention to what Philip said as they listened to him and saw the miraculous signs that he did. For in cases of possession, the unclean spirits came out shrieking loudly. Many people who were paralyzed or crippled were healed. So there was great joy in that town.

 

Ps 66: 1-3a, 4-5, 6-7a

Let the earth cry out to God with joy.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

John 6: 35-40

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall never be hungry, and whoever believes in me shall never be thirsty.   Nevertheless, as I said, you refuse to believe, even when you have seen. Yet, all that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me, I shall not turn away.  For I have come from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of the One who sent me.

 And the will of him who sent me is that I lose nothing of what he has given me, but instead that I raise it up on the last day. This is the will of the Father, that whoever sees the Son and be­lieves in him shall live with eternal life; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

 

Gospel Reflection：

There’s a very interesting juxtaposition between the persecution of the early Christian community in the first reading, and Jesus’ speaking of himself as the “Bread of Life” in the Gospel. The contrast is quite remarkable, especially since the reading from acts begins by telling of Paul’s approval of Stephen’s murder but also relates how the apostles were met with tremendous success in their preaching of the Good News.

It is sometimes said that “God writes straight with crooked lines.” It is fascinating to think that the young man Saul who begins his appearance in Scripture as an enemy of the early Church and one of its most ardent persecutors, will end up preaching the very thing that he so despised-almost as if the hunger that had fueled his violence and hatred towards Christians, found satisfaction instead in Jesus the Bread of Life.