Breaking the Word

4th week in Easter Time, Tuesday – 23rd April 2024 – Acts 11,19-26; Jn 10,22-30
Unfolding of God’s Plan
The first reading presents the story of the Church being founded in Antioch in Syria. It narrates how the early Christians grew beyond Jerusalem and reached out to the Gentiles. The persecution that followed Stephen’s martyrdom spread the Gospel to the Greek speaking Christians in many directions. Since many Greeks believed and converted to the Lord, the Jerusalem Church decided to send Barnabas to Antioch, to encourage new believers. Barnabas saw the grace of God at work in the Gentiles. He boldly proclaimed as he was “filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith.” During his ministry in Antioch, a large number of people were added to the Lord. Therefore, he decided to seek the help of another Greek-speaking Christian, Saul of Tarsus, who was in his hometown after his conversion. Barnabas brought Saul to Antioch and both taught there for a whole year. Despite the challenges and uncertainties, God’s plan to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles was unfolding. In this plan, God included the joining hands of two Gentile preachers.

3^rd week in Easter Time, Thursday – 18^th 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.