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Acts: 16: 22-34

The crowd in Philippi joined in the attack on Paul and Silas,
and the magistrates had them stripped
and ordered them to be beaten with rods.
After inflicting many blows on them,
they threw them into prison
and instructed the jailer to guard them securely.
When he received these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell
and secured their feet to a stake.

About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying
and singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened,
there was suddenly such a severe earthquake
that the foundations of the jail shook;
all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose. 
When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open,
he drew his sword and was about to kill himself,
thinking that the prisoners had escaped.
But Paul shouted out in a loud voice,
“Do no harm to yourself; we are all here.”
He asked for a light and rushed in and,
trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas.
Then he brought them out and said,
“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.
He took them in at that hour of the night and bathed their wounds;
then he and all his family were baptized at once.
He brought them up into his house and provided a meal
and with his household rejoiced at having come to faith in God.

The Word of the Lord.

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There’s an old Swedish proverb: “Those who wish to sing always find a song.”  

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In our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Paul and Silas have been humiliated, stripped in public, and beaten with rods. 

Now they’re imprisoned and chained to the ground deep inside the bowels of the earth. Why are they joyfully singing songs to God at midnight?

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Paul and Silas have discovered a higher freedom, one that cannot be chained – the freedom of knowing Jesus Christ. 

This is a great, almost original, Pauline insight – that in the midst of suffering, there is always the consolation of the Spirit; there is grace.

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“Those who wish to sing always find a song.” 

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While we may never know the darkness of imprisonment, we’ve all endured various trials – dryness in prayer, periods of grief, sickness, anxiety, isolation, or frustration. 

But Paul and Silas remind us, there is always a reason to be joyful, there is always a reason to sing.

As Paul later writes, “What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? … No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us.”

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Those who wish to sing always find a song. 

So, what song will you sing to God today?

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Image credits: (1) Breslov Research Institute (2) Communion Chapel (3) Amazing Grace, John Newton

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Acts: 16:11-15

We set sail from Troas, making a straight run for Samothrace,
and on the next day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi,
a leading city in that district of Macedonia and a Roman colony.
We spent some time in that city.
On the sabbath we went outside the city gate along the river
where we thought there would be a place of prayer.
We sat and spoke with the women who had gathered there.
One of them, a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth,
from the city of Thyatira, a worshiper of God, listened,
and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention
to what Paul was saying.
After she and her household had been baptized,
she offered us an invitation,
“If you consider me a believer in the Lord,
come and stay at my home,” and she prevailed on us.

The Word of the Lord.

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When we think of Europe, it’s easy to presume it’s always been Christian. 

Europe is home to some of the greatest and oldest cathedrals in the world, including Saint Peter’s in Rome; Chartres in France; Westminster Abbey in London; and Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

But Europe’s Christian faith comes from humble beginnings. In fact, the first Masses were likely celebrated in homes, not in sprawling Gothic, Romanesque, or Renaissance Cathedrals. 

So, when did Christianity in Europe in begin? Our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles gives us a likely answer.

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Saint Paul is traveling with some of his companions throughout Greece, where they encounter a group of women, including someone named Lydia.

We don’t know much about her, other than the fact that she traded fine purple linen – meaning she came from some wealth – and she made Paul an offer he couldn’t refuse:

“If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she says, “then come and stay at my home.”

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Paul accepted the invitation. 

He baptized Lydia and her entire household. Then she allowed him to stay with her for as long as he needed, likely several weeks, even months.

Scholars believe that Paul not only stayed in Lydia’s home, but he also celebrated Mass there. That’s where some of the first Christians came to believe – in a tiny home in Greece.

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So, what can Lydia’s story say to us today?

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God’s will often starts with humble beginnings.

Think of Christ lying in a manger. Suddenly, the world is redeemed. 

Lydia welcomes Paul into her home. In time, an entire continent is converted.

Or, in our case, a mustard seed community of faith comes alive. Imagine what the Lord is doing – even now, even here in our own lives!

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Image credits: (1) Herald’s of the Gospel Magazine (2) Chartres Cathedral, Britanica (3) Community Renewal Society

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Gospel: John 15: 9-17

Jesus said to his disciples:
“As the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love.

“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you
and your joy might be complete.
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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When was the last time you saw Jesus? Or felt comforted by his embrace?

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It’s an odd question if you’re looking for his flesh and bones, or a loud trumpet sounding from the heavens.

Christ reveals himself to us constantly, but in much humbler ways. So humble that if you’re not attuned to looking for him, then you won’t notice when he passes by.

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When the Lord first appeared here on earth, he didn’t tear the heavens open by arriving in a blazing chariot of fire. Rather, he came as a helpless baby.

He connected himself to a family, and over the next thirty years, he taught them how to live and love as he did. When the appointed time for his public ministry came, he chose twelve Apostles, forming them in his school of mercy.

In a word, Jesus spent his life building friendships that slowly turned people into living examples of his love. 

This is how we still see and feel Lord’s presence today, through ordinary people like us who have learned how to love as Christ has commanded us.

“This is my commandment,” he says in today’s Gospel, “love one another as I love you… You are my friends… I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain.”

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So, what does a friend of Jesus look like? What kind of fruit does he expect us to bear? 

Consider what he does for the Apostles during the Last Supper, his final night on earth; the moment when he first calls them, “friends.”

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Jesus reveals his affection for them in two ways.

First, he kneels down and washes their feet.

On the surface, the Lord is removing all of the dirt that’s accumulated around their ankles and toes that day, allowing them to enter into their host’s home for the evening to celebrate the Last Supper.

But in a deeper way, Jesus is bathing his friends in forgiveness, washing away all of the muck that’s accumulated in their hearts since he first called them three years ago.

Jesus is washing away the doubt and fear that once clouded Peter’s heart when he sank into the stormy Sea of Galilee. He’s washing away Peter’s selfishness after attempting to stop Christ from entering Jerusalem to suffer and die.

He’s washing away James and John’s pride after requesting to be the “greatest” in his kingdom by sitting at the Lord’s left and right. He’s washing away the lack of faith in the hearts of the others, who tried but failed to cast out demons in his name.

Jesus washes them clean – the first act of friendship.

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Then, while seated at table, he feeds them with his very Self, a gift which the Church will later refer to as, “food for the journey.”

In the Eucharist, Christ leaves them with his abiding presence, assuring the Apostles that he will be with them throughout their journeys here on earth, journeys which will include both suffering and joy; failure and success. 

“Take this, all of you, and eat of it, this is my Body … this is my Blood, which will be given up for you. Do this in memory of me.”

Jesus gives them all he has left – his very Self – as food for the journey: a second act of friendship. 

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“And you … You are my friends,” he says, “if you do what I command you.”

Meaning, bathe other people in forgiveness; wash their wounds clean. 

Then feed them with your very self; not in a literal way as he did, but by offering your time, your treasure, your talent, your energy, your prayers… lend your ears, your hearts, the warmth of your hugs to those in need.

Then we will be his friends, recognizing that these often tiny sacrifices lead others closer to God, the Source of all that is good.

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So, when was the last time you saw Jesus? Or felt comforted by his embrace?

Hopefully, you can turn to your neighbor and say: The last time I saw you.

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Image credits: (1) LinkedIn (2) Jesus Washes the Feet of his Disciples, Ford Madox Brown (3) Pinterest