Friday of the Third Week of Easter

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
“How can this man give us his Flesh to eat?”
Jesus said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood,
you do not have life within 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.
Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
John 6:52-59

Prayer

Dear Father you have given us St. Paul who was touched by your Son to show us a conversion of a sinner. How possible it is even when it seemed impossible. Just as we will have eternal life when we eat of the Flesh and drink of the blood of your Son. May our lives be forever enriched in the living Gospel as we too bring about our own conversion in our belief in the bread and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen

Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle

On that journey as I drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' I replied, 'Who are you, sir?' And he said to me, 'I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting.'
Acts 22:6-8

Reflection:
The witnessing of Paul has given us a testimony of Jesus' love. Saul in his on way was bent on persecuting Christians. In a sense he is worst than us in that regard. But in his zeal to destroy the kingdom on God. God forgave him, and chose him to bring the Good News to all the people.

How come Saul and not someone else? Maybe it was in the way Saul had zeal to destroy, and God in his mercy used that to convert Saul to do his will so that zeal will be used for God' kingdom. We do not know the mind of God and why he chooses sinners to bring witness to his kingdom.

But when we think about how a heart is converted and transformed from an encounter with Christ. The power of that conversion alone is God's proof of his love for us and that individual. Just as Jesus said, those who are well need no physician. Those who sin need one. That's why he calls them out to transform them, to witness for those whose faith is weak so it will be strengthened. Just as those with a strong faith do not need this witness, they believe without a shadow of a doubt.