“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” He said, “Who are you, sir?” Saul (soon to be Paul) was persecuting Christians. They were to him an anonymous mass of people who were opposed to his way of life. The encounter with the Risen Lord on the road to Damascus challenged him to see not a group but individuals with names and personal stories. Saul was asked to recognize them as having a family relationship with Jesus. That is the challenge for us all. The poor don’t exist, the immigrants don’t exist, the homeless don’t exist. John and Maria and Jose and Aliyah exist and they all look like Jesus and should be treated accordingly. We can do so because in receiving the Eucharist we are transformed from former ways into a closer approximation of Jesus. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood remains in me and I in them.
MAY92025
By Church Staff
