When I was a teacher at Greenville High School up in the Delta, I used to have to make lesson plans every week. I would have to show the variety of learning styles that I was addressing in my lessons, since some students were visual learners, others auditory learners, while still others were kinetic learners, who learner primarily by actions and by doing things hands-on. Knowing our learning style and engaging in the learning process to the best of our abilities is important.
In the Early Church, men and women we called to the Way of Jesus. However, this was not an easy way to follow, since Saul and others were out to persecute those who chose to follow the Way of Jesus. On his journey to Damascus, on a mission to persecute those who followed the way of Jesus, Saul had a profound conversion experience. Saul had a vision from the Lord, but the vision caused him to lose his sight, even though his spiritual sight was opened very clearly. Just as Saul’s conversion shook him up, we can imagine the horror and fear following through Ananias, who was asked to pray and give sight back to Saul, who had a mission to persecute the followers of Jesus. Ananias probably thought that when Saul would regain his sight, it would be the end of the road for him. For Saul, this was a learning process. For Ananias, this was a learning process too. They engaged in the process, for sure. For Saul, it took be thrown from his horse and being made blind, but the Lord sure got his attention. Saul had been a persecutor of followers of Jesus - he was turned a great evangelizer of the faith.
In the Gospel today, Jesus tells us that when we eat His flesh and drink His blood, we live in Him and He in us. The food and the drink that he offers us gives us the strength to follow his Way. Jesus’ way is certainly not an easy way. It may mean that the Lord is sending us to face up to those difficult people who could also be making life difficult for us. But the Lord will show us how he will convert those people to follow his way. We are all called to learn and grow as we open up our hearts to Jesus, to experience the power of his love.
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