I will raise him - 23-04-2026

Published on April 22, 2026

Thursday of the Third week of Easter

First Reading

Acts 8,26-40.

The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, 
 "Get up and head south on the road  that goes
down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route."
So he got up and set out. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch,
a court official of the Candace, that is,
the queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury,
who had come to Jerusalem to worship,
and was returning home. Seated in his chariot,
he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
The Spirit said to Philip, "Go and join up with that chariot."
Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said,
"Do you understand what you are reading?"
He replied, "How can I, unless someone instructs me?"
So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him.
This was the scripture passage he was reading:
"Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
In (his) humiliation justice was denied him.
Who will tell of his posterity? For his life is taken from the earth."
Then the eunuch said to Philip in reply,
"I beg you, about whom is the prophet saying this?
About himself, or about someone else?"
Then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning
with this scripture passage, he proclaimed Jesus to him.
As they traveled along the road they came to some water,
and the eunuch said, "Look, there is water.
What is to prevent my being baptized?"
Then he ordered the chariot to stop, and Philip
and the eunuch both went down into the water, and he baptized him.
When they came out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord
snatched Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more,
but continued on his way rejoicing.
Philip came to Azotus, and went about proclaiming
 the good news to all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 66(65),8-9.16-17.20.

Bless our God, you peoples,
loudly sound his praise;
He has given life to our souls,
and has not let our feet slip.

Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare
what he has done for me.
When I appealed to him in words,

praise was on the tip of my tongue.
Blessed be God who refused me not
my prayer or his kindness!

 

Gospel

John 6,44-51.

Jesus said to the crowds: "No one can come to me
unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets: 'They shall all be taught by God.'
Everyone who listens to my Father
and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one
who is from God; he has seen the Father.
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven
so that one may eat it and not die.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my flesh for the life of the world."

 

YOUCAT Reflection

 153 Why do we believe in the resurrection of the "body"?

In Jesus Christ, God himself took on "flesh" (Incarnation) in order to redeem mankind. The biblical word "flesh" characterizes man in his weakness and mortality. Nevertheless, God does not regard human flesh as something inferior. God does not redeem man's spirit only; he redeems him entirely, body and soul.

God created us with a body (flesh) and a soul. At the end of the world he does not drop the "flesh" like an old toy. On the "Last Day" he will remake all creation and raise us up in the flesh—this means that we will be transformed but still experience ourselves in our element. For Jesus, too, being in the flesh was not just a phase. When the risen Lord showed himself, the disciples saw the wounds on his body.

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