Why me . . . ?

Third Friday of Easter – Acts 9:1-20; John 6:52-59

I first found Saint Paul’s conversion deeply moving during a Bible study while I was in the Navy. At that time, I did not yet know Mystici Corporis Christi (1943, Pius XII), or the Church’s teaching on the Body of Christ. But one question stayed with me: why did Jesus say, “Why are you persecuting me,” not “my disciples”? After all, it was the disciples who were being attacked. Then it struck me: Christ loves His Church so completely that He identifies Himself with her.

Later, I came to understand why Saint Paul so often speaks of the Body of Christ. The truth is stunning: “You are the Body of Christ.” That same truth has a Eucharistic meaning too. Why must we receive Him? Because it is about life: His life in us, here and now, and life everlasting.

Holy Communion is that sacred moment when, united with Jesus, we become a living gift to the Father. Then we can say with Saint Paul, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” After Holy Communion, we truly become living tabernacles — temples where God dwells.

And that is one of the greatest joys of Christianity: that weak, sinful people, by God’s grace, become His chosen dwelling, for His glory. Alleluia!