“Yet I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the Gospel of God’s grace.” (Acts 20:24)
God’s grace has accompanied us throughout all our life. Its beginning, every moment and end is protected by God Himself. His Gospel is a never-ending story of His love and protection; every word and page is a record of this.
It is so obvious that when Paul met Our Lord and experienced His grace, his life became totally dedicated to the ministry “received from Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the Gospel of God’s grace.” When we are touched by God, we can’t keep it secret, we have to share.
“I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.” (John 17, 6)
“In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” (John 16, 33)
“In the world you will have trouble” sounds so serious. There is no “probably,” “maybe,” “presumably” or “it’s very likely,” it says: “you will have trouble”. Fullstop. And it sounds like “the end of the world.” Wrong. It is just a wonderful occasion to trust Our Lord – “take courage” because “I have conquered the world.”
Sometimes my decisions, actions or just simple lack of imagination gets somebody else into trouble. Sometimes I am in trouble because of somebody else’s decisions, action or the lack imagination. Unfortunately, trouble is part of our life. The only way is to believe and “take courage,” because He “has conquered the world” and will take care of me and of the others who have suffered because of me.
With Him every trouble can bring beautiful fruit, all sufferings can result in peace, and conflicts – in a new quality of the relationship. It’s possible when we “take courage” to invite Him as the conqueror – as our Lord and Prince of Peace.
“The father of orphans and the defender of widows is God in his holy dwelling. God gives a home to the forsaken; he leads forth prisoners to prosperity.” (Ps 68, 6-7)
“… wait for ‘the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit’.” (Acts 1:4-5)
We are baptized with water and with the Holy Spirit. To unite us with Our Lord. When we are with Him, we know where to go, what to do, and who we are. We know our past and destination. Our concern is to be with Him, every day and in every second.
“May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him.” (Eph 1:17)
“Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor. Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise hospitality.” (Rom 12, 9-13).
I like so much this style of St. Paul. Short sentences, many subjects, the most important tips. His advice comes from one of his later letters, he is older, he has spent all his life proclaiming the Good News, establishing new churches in different cities and now is sharing his experience. How to protect love, how to protect relationships, how to protect spiritual life in us and among our dear.
“Come and hear, all who fear God, I will tell what the Lord did for my soul, alleluia.” (Entrance Antiphon)
“They all seized Sosthenes, the synagogue official, and beat him in full view of the tribunal.” (Acts 18:17)
As we can see, the Bible is not only about pure love, miracles and virtues. It is also full of emotions and very human reactions. When jealous “Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him to the tribunal,” his friends stood in his defense. Well, a very emotional defense – they “beat him”. Personally, I like these human reactions. Probably Sosthenes needed a … simple “man-to-man lesson.” Probably.
“You have redeemed us, Lord, by your Blood from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us into a kingdom, priests for our God, alleluia” (Entrance Antiphone)
“May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe…” (Eph 1:18-19).
Our hearts have eyes. Maybe because “one sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye” (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry). So our eyes need to be enlightened. We need Our Lord’s guidance. We need hope, faith and love to understand this world (created by God) and to understand our vocation (received from God), definitely bigger than we can imagine. We are His children and we are invited to be with Him throughout all the eternity. No less, no more.
“Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age, alleluia” (Communion Antiphon)
“…He is not far from any one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being.’” (Acts 17:27-28)
Whatever we have, wherever we go, and whoever we are – is “in Him”. Again the Good News about His love to us. When we are in love, we’d like to be close to the other person and share everything with them. The same is with God. He would like to be close to us.
“I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always.” (Alleluia versus)
“‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ And they said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.’ So they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house.” (Acts 16:30-32)
The word of the Lord can save not only me, but also my household. “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved”. When parents in a family pray, when they listen to the word of the Lord, also their children are under God’s protection. His word is powerful and His love – unconditional.
“Let us rejoice and be glad and give glory to God, for the Lord our God the Almighty reigns, Alleluia.” (Entrance Antiphon)
“On the sabbath we went outside the city gate along the river where we thought there would be a place of prayer.” (Acts 16:13)
As we see, “a place of prayer” could be anywhere: “outside the city gate along the river,” at our home, on our streets, offices, parks. Because prayer is part of our life and not tied to specific place in nature or a building. We can pray everywhere. Prayer is more about the relationship than action, more about “to-be” than “to-do.” For “doing something” we need time and place, sometimes even tools. For “being” we do not need anything, because we can always be connected by heart, and prayer is the most natural way to express that.
At the same moment, we need to protect relationships by making some rules, obligations, promises to be kept. A true relationship is based on our free will and reason, not on emotions. This is why we need “a place of prayer,” something which is “outside the city gate,” outside my actvities, free of pressure, things to do, and so on. We need a place in our city (the church), in my home (the cross on the wall, a picture of Our Lady or saints), the Bible with me and even a small “place of prayer” in my bedroom.
“The love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Spirit of God dwelling within us, alleluia” (Entrance Antiphon).
“I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (J 14:18).
In everyone’s life there were moments when we felt like strangers: no one understands us, they have no time to listen to us, help us, or just to be with us. We feel as if we were orphans, abandoned. In moments like these we have Our Lord’s promise: “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” This is His promise, His initiative – not ours. And He knows perfectly when to come, and when His presence is needed.
“Proclaim a joyful sound and let it be heard; proclaim to the ends of the earth: The Lord has freed his people, alleluia.” (Entrance Antiphon)
