“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. ( Jn 6:15).

God is good!

When Saint Paul first became known to the early Christians, he was that young man ideologically upset with the Christian movement and determined to eradicate it. His personal aversion for the Christians produced in him “a breath that tasted of death, not of life” towards the Christians.

He started with Stephen's stoning and extended it to Damascus; however, he becomes Jesus’ chosen instrument to proclaim the gospel to the people he once hated.

Once the Lord touched Paul’s heart and transformed it, as he always does with us too, Paul no longer yielded to any aversion for people; consequently, he shifted his attention towards the evil that underpins their actions and would teach against such evil.

It is easier these days for many of us Christians to face the temptation of ideological intransigence that Paul faced earlier in life, allowing our religious ideology, social ideology, political ideology to easily pit us against others we brand enemies or opposition.

We might ask the following questions that Pope Francis challenged each of us answer during one of his general audiences to help us mark out clearly our own daily Christian paths: how do I live my life of faith? Do I go to meet others or am I against others? What's my religious life like? Does the faith in God I profess make me friendly or hostile to those who are different from me?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, source of every life, prompt us to be attentive to the voice of your son so that we may possess life in him always.