3rd week in Easter Time, Thursday – 18th April 2024 – Acts 8,26-40; Jn 6,44-51
Directed to Conversion
Philip is one of the first deacons of the church (Acts 6,5) and the first significant Christian missionary to Samaria (Acts 8,5-25). Philip was not only a faithful preacher, also an obedient personal worker. An angel has directed him to a road that leads down from Jerusalem to Gaza on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. At the commission of an angel, he was willing to leave the crowds and deal with one lost soul. The Holy Spirit chose him to guide and explain the Scriptures to the Ethiopian eunuch, the finance minister of the Queen of Ethiopia. As an evangelist, Philip explained the suffering servant in Isaiah as referring to Jesus, the Messiah, who quietly suffered for the salvation of humanity. Once Philip has shared the Good News of Jesus with the Ethiopian and brought him into closer relationship with Jesus through baptism, Philip is taken by the Holy Spirit to another place to continue the ministry of spreading the Gospel. Through his baptism, the eunuch becomes an adapted son of God, a member of Christ’s body and a temple of the Holy Spirit. On coming out of the waters, he goes out to spread the Gospel in his native land.
