6th week in Easter Time, Tuesday – 16th May 2023 – Acts 16, 22-34; Jn 16,5-11
God’s Mysterious Protection
In the first reading, God sets Paul and his companions free from their incarceration by means of an earthquake. This narrative story once again indicates how God can write straight with crooked lines. He acts in mysterious ways for those who preach the gospel. God allows an earthquake to shake the jail, opening the jail gates, and loosening the chains and stakes holding the prisoners. God uses the whole experience to bring safety for Paul and his companions, and at the same time brings salvation to the jailer and his family. The responsible jailer, after the frightening earthquake, felt the possibility of escape of his prisoners, and so tried to kill himself. But when he went to check, on seeing Paul and Silas, fell trembling at their feet. He began to realize that the so called dangerous criminals were in fact messengers of God. In deep gratitude, the jailer asked what he should do to be saved. Paul showed him that the real way of Salvation is to have faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. Immediately though late at night, the jailer had Paul’s and his companion’s wounds dressed after which the new converts were baptized. Jailer then brought them to his own house and shared a meal of joyful conversion. This meal of thanksgiving is truly a eucharistic meal.
