Commentary on the Gospel of
The change in Saul’s condition is as shocking as it is sudden. One minute he’s got authorization from the High Priest to arrest the Christians of Damascus and the next minute he has to be led to Damascus by the hand, unable to see the way. Once in Damascus, he will fast for three days, waiting for the healing that will come through Ananias, a man the earlier Saul would have been happy to drag to Jerusalem in chains.
This reversal and the resulting dependence helped to shape Saul’s ministry. He would be an apostle who reached out across boundaries and accepted hardship and suffering willingly.
Like Saul, we need to recognize our dependence on God and allow that dependence to shape our way of living. As Jesus tells the crowd in today’s Gospel, unless we eat and drink of the Lord’s Body and Blood, there is no life in us. We are utterly dependent on God. All we are and all we have are God’s gifts to us. Following the example of Saul (Paul), let us place these gifts at the service of the Lord.
