May 7, 2013

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Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Lectionary: 292

Reading 1ACTS 16:22-34

If you remember, yesterday we read that the Apostles had baptized Lydia, a convert to Judaism, and her whole household.

Now we skip a little further down that chapter and we find Sts. Paul and Silas in trouble.  But a detail is omitted.  The reason they are in trouble is because St. Paul cured a girl with a "prophetic" demon.  A possessed slavegirl, who made money for her masters by fortune telling, was pestering St. Paul.  So he commanded the evil spirit to leave the girl.  She was cured but her masters were incensed because they would no longer be able to make money.  

Apparently, this girl was jointly owned by several masters and they incited the riot which leads to the following. 

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.

So, Sts. Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown in jail.

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. 

While they were in jail, Sts. Paul and Silas were preaching and praying with the other prisoners.  Suddenly, there was an earthquake and all the prisoners were set free.  But none of them escaped.

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.

When the jailer woke up, he thought the prisoners had escaped and was going to kill himself in shame.  But St. Paul called out to him.

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.

Realizing that there must have been some sort of intervention from God, the jailer felt the fear of God come to him and asked Sts. Paul and Silas, what he must do to be saved.  And they pointed him to Christ.  That very day, he and his whole family were baptized.

Responsorial PsalmPS 138:1-2AB, 2CDE-3, 7C-8

R. (7c) Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple,
and give thanks to your name.
R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Because of your kindness and your truth,
you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Let us always give thanks to God who saved us.  Let us always lift up our voices in prayer.  And let us always come together at the appointed times to celebrate the rite of unity and thanksgiving in the Holy Mass.

GospelJN 16:5-11

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Now I am going to the one who sent me,
and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’
But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts.
But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go.
For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.
But if I go, I will send him to you.
And when he comes he will convict the world
in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation:
sin, because they do not believe in me;
righteousness, because I am going to the Father
and you will no longer see me;
condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.”

Jesus is informing them of the coming of the Holy Spirit who will convict them with power and glory and transform them into powerhouses of faith and love.  Read Acts 2.