Salvation in small print

Friday of the Third Week of Easter

ACTS 9:1-20; PS 117:1; JN 6:52-59

Sometimes we read an article or a novel or watch a movie and at the end we say to ourselves, "this is exactly the story of my life!" The same thing happens to us after reading about Paul's conversion in today's first reading.

Now, I know that nobody here goes around on horseback persecuting and killing Christians (I hope at least!). But I think that the crux of the account of today's reading is the change the Paul underwent as a result of his encounter with Christ.

It can happen once, all of a sudden, as happened to Paul, or it can occur slowly over a long period of time or it can occur in tiny steps over our whole life. But the conversion must take place some time or other.
Like Paul, we spend most of our life going on our own business, doing things that we think would really please God. Paul did not persecute Christians because he hated God! Quite the opposite actually. He wanted to honour God so much that he wanted to remove all those who in his opinion were blaspheming because they believed in Christ.

My point is that all too often we want to please God by our own standards. We want to buy God's love and salvation by our own means. But God quickly shows us that he can never be put into any box or niche that we set up for him.
And that process of realising this is very painful. And humiliating. Just as it was painful and humiliating for Paul.

A friend of mine once described it as though you are on a tandem bike with Jesus. You are driving in front, taking Jesus to all your familiar places. You are in control. Halfway through the journey, Jesus tells you, "now let us change places: I drive you sit back and enjoy the ride!"
There is where it becomes scary but that is where salvation starts to occur. It is at that point that God starts taking control of our life. Salvation occurs not through our standards but through God's standards.

Paul ended up in at the mercy of the same people that he hated and healed from his blindness by these same persons whom he persecuted. That is where scales fall off his eyes.
Scales fall off our eyes when we are stripped from all that made us strong and powerful in our eyes and in our own life and allow Jesus to start rebuilding us in a long and painful process.
Therefore the losses that we experience in our life, the painful moments, our failures are nothing other than this painful stripping of ourselves, it is the falling off the horse in our life, the being blinded by the powerful light of Christ and being led patiently to places that we would have never imagined.

In the gospel we have the same dynamic. Recall that we are reading the John's reflections on the Eucharist and that in the Gospel according to John, in the last supper account we do not have mention of the Eucharist but only its practical significance: the washing of the feet. In other words he is saying the Eucharist and service to one another is the same thing. Recall how Peter refuses to have his feet washed by Jesus. He refuses because he thinks, "If my Master washes by feet then I must wash other persons' feet as well. No way!" He wanted salvation on his terms not on Jesus' terms.

We see the same thing in today's gospel Jesus tells them you will have everlasting life only if you eat my body and drink my blood. The people think, "That is too shocking! No way! How can he do that?" They knew that if their master had to give up his life so that they might have life, then even they are expected to do the same for each other. That is why they resist him.

Rather than resisting God's invitation to be saved on his terms, let us accept his invitation wholeheartedly, let us not be afraid of the challenge that we are faced with and let us truly allow Christ to be our Saviour.