Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Today's Mass Readings

We begin with the “We” section of the Acts of the Apostles, where the author speaks in terms of a group traveling together. “We” set sail for Neapolis from Troas. Onward from there, we set sail for Philippi. Thus we see the early Church in its apostolic beginning as Paul, Luke, and presumably other companions set out to spread the Gospel. We must remember that we are on a journey, too. We never stop in our destiny and our calling, which is to bring the Gospel to others. We are all called to do this in different ways depending on our state in life. 

When I was a seminarian, I would visit my family regularly during vacations. On one such occasion, I went to a restaurant with my brother. I happened to be wearing a pro-life t-shirt. I didn’t think much about it. While I was at the restaurant, someone commented on my shirt and said they liked its message. I hadn’t given much thought to the shirt I was wearing, yet it carried with it a Christian message. We all can proclaim the Gospel message in the subtle ways of our everyday actions. The Holy Spirit inspires this. In John’s Gospel today, Jesus tells His disciples that the Advocate will testify on His behalf, and the apostles themselves will then testify by this same Advocate, which is the Holy Spirit.

Jesus also promised that persecution would come as well. And persecution does indeed come to the apostles. Paul was imprisoned just after today’s reading in Acts. It just goes to show that the Christian life will always come with a cross to carry. This is inevitable. The real question is how we will respond when persecution comes. This applies to any hard time we find in life. We can’t prevent bad things from happening. We can, however, choose how we will respond. We can choose the attitude we will carry with us into the battles life brings us. We have God-given free will, and also a responsibility to be at our best. We can respond with grace to any situation we face. Above all else, we cannot deny that we are on a journey with the Holy Spirit as our guide. 

Let us trust in this great Advocate to help us to proclaim the Gospel in our lives! Are you responsible, response-able? Are you able to respond to suffering with grace? Are you turning to the Advocate to give you blessings and guidance?

Reflection by Br. Matthew Marie, OSB