Paul had been arrested. While he was in prison an earthquake damaged the jail. The jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, [he thought] that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted out in a loud voice, “We are all here.”  There was an earlier scene in the ACTS when St. Peter… Read More »

In response to a vision Paul went into Europe, to the “Roman town” of Philippi. He found that things were going to be different. He was not able to follow his usual custom of going to the synagogue so he went “outside the city gate” looking for people at prayer. We sat and spoke with… Read More »

For those who follow the readings in a missalette you found yourselves flipping pages today. While the first reading is the one assigned for the sixth Sunday of Easter, the epistle from St. Peter and the Gospel from St. John are both taken from the seventh Sunday of Easter. We made this switch because in… Read More »

On one of St. Paul’s missionary journeys he had a vision of a man who said, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” To understand the significance of the vision you need to know a little of the geography. Up until this point St. Paul had been preaching in what is now the country of Turkey.… Read More »

One of the first crisis which the followers of Jesus faced was whether to be inclusive or exclusive. People were expressing faith in Jesus who did not look like the apostolic generation, did not think like them, did not act like them. How were they to be included as members of the fellowship of faith?… Read More »

“You, Lord, show which one of these two you have chosen….” Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias. The choice of Matthias to take the place of Judas as one of the twelve apostles is instructive in our own spiritual lives. The first followers of Jesus were trying to do God’s… Read More »

Remain in me, as I remain in you. In John 15, Jesus uses the image of the vine and the branches to describe the intimate relationship he has with his followers. The chapter includes the word “remain” fourteen times. Anyone who has ever been married, been part of a religious community, been a friend knows… Read More »

Two contrasting statements in the readings assigned for today: in the Acts of the Apostles St. Paul reflects on his experience and says,  “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” At the Last Supper Jesus says, Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. If we combine those… Read More »

When St. Paul healed a cripple in Lystra the people declared, “The gods have come down to us in human form.”  People then as now imagined that for the gods to be present something extraordinary needs to happen. The coming of Jesus, called the incarnation, changed our understanding of the presence of God. Jesus was… Read More »

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your heart be troubled.” How are we supposed to heed that commandment while we are in the midst of a pandemic, when we cannot hug our grandchildren on Mothers’ Day, while we are unable to gather as a community to praise the Lord! But think about preachers… Read More »