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Acts 14: 19-28
In those days, some Jews from Antioch and Iconium
arrived and won over the crowds.
They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city,
supposing that he was dead.
But when the disciples gathered around him,
he got up and entered the city.
On the following day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.
After they had proclaimed the good news to that city
and made a considerable number of disciples,
they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.
They strengthened the spirits of the disciples
and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying,
“It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships
to enter the Kingdom of God.”
They appointed presbyters for them in each Church and,
with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord
in whom they had put their faith.
Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia.
After proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia.
From there they sailed to Antioch,
where they had been commended to the grace of God
for the work they had now accomplished.
And when they arrived, they called the Church together
and reported what God had done with them
and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
Then they spent no little time with the disciples.
The Word of the Lord.
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It’s another tough day for Saint Paul.
As it says in our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, “They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.”
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Imagine Paul barely breathing… covered in rubble… left for dead.
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Suddenly, that pile of rubble starts shaking. A dusty and bruised Paul emerges victoriously!
Doesn’t that scene foreshadow the resurrection? Paul knows that the day will come when he will be laid in a tomb one final time.
But he also knows that – like today – he will rise from that rubble. He’s not afraid; he’s seen the Risen Christ and knows that this is his destiny, as well.
As he later writes says, “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?”
Paul is so convinced of the resurrection that he cannot help but share this news with the world, even at the cost of great physical pain. He’s a man in love with Jesus, who has to tell the world about the God who stole his heart.
So, he stands up, shakes the dust from his feet, and continues to preach the Gospel until he draws his very last breath.
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Imagine the comfort Paul’s faith brought him. If the Lord blessed us with the same spirit, would our burdens feel lighter? Would our sorrows be turned into joy? Would our behavior change?
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“Ask and you shall receive,” Jesus say, “seek and you will find.”
May the Lord gift us all with the faith of Saint Paul, who in spite of trial and pain, never gave up.
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Image credits: (1) St. Paul Center (2) Saint Paul Stoned, Jean Baptiste Champaigne (3) Never Lose Faith poster, Keep Calm-o-Matic