3rd week in Easter Time, Friday – 28th April 2023 – Acts 9,1-20; Jn 6,52-59
Authoritative Identity
The first reading gives the account of Paul’s life-changing experience on the road to Damascus. It is also one of the major turning points in the development of the early Christian community and indeed for the future of the whole Church for centuries to come. On his journey to arrest or persecute the Christians, Saul was suddenly surrounded by a bright light and fell to the ground. At the same time, he heard a voice saying, “Saul, Saul why do you persecute me?” To which Paul replied with another question, “Who are you, Lord?” The solemn repetition of Saul’s name and the bright light suggested to him that he was in the presence of God and hence he addressed the voice as “Lord”. When confronted with the light, Paul realizes his blindness, not only physical but also blindness to the truth. The reply he gets is, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.” Paul was not trying to exterminate the followers of Jesus, he was persecuting Jesus himself. This new insight is so overwhelming that he cannot see what he is to do. As God the Son came into the authority of God the Father, so Jesus’ followers came into His authority. Gripped by this experience, Paul specifically reminds later in his letters that the Christian community is the Body of the Risen Christ. To attack the Body is to attack Christ himself. However, God doesn’t desert him, even if Saul has misunderstood who God is.
