Tagged: Daily Reflection

“Barnabas and Saul…sent forth by the Holy Spirit…set sail from there for Cyprus.” –Acts 13:2, 4 Barnabas was the leader for the Church’s first missionary trip, as indicated by the fact that his name came before Saul’s. Of all the possible destinations in a world without the Lord, the Holy Spirit sent Barnabas home, to Cyprus (Acts 13:4). Remember that Barnabas came “from Cyprus” (Acts 4:36). After evangelizing Cyprus, Barnabas and Saul evangelized numerous cities. Thus, with home serving as a launching pad, “the word of the Lord continued to spread and increase” (Acts 12:24). Jesus once delivered a man...

“The hand of the Lord was with them and a great number of them believed and were converted to the Lord.” –Acts 11:21 God’s hand makes it possible to convert great numbers of people. God’s hand holds and protects us. Because there can be no snatching out of His hand (Jn 10:28-29), we have perfect security in His love. Even death cannot snatch us from God’s hand, for the souls of the just who have died “are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them” (Wis 3:1). If we sin, God’s hand will weigh heavily on us...

“God has granted life-giving repentance even to the Gentiles.” –Acts 11:18 It might seem that the controversies of the first-century Church could be dry reading to modern eyes. However, the way this particular controversy, told in today’s first reading, was handled meant that the vast majority of nearly everyone who is reading this teaching now has the opportunity to be saved! If the members of the early Church were not listening closely to the Holy Spirit, they could have closed their hearts to the leading of the Holy Spirit, relied on the historical precedent of their forefathers, and decided that...

“The disciples could not but be filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.” –Acts 13:52 In the missals used by parishes over twenty years ago, the above verse is translated: “The disciples knew only how to be filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.” What a great description this is for a disciple of Jesus Christ! Disciples shake off the dust (Acts 13:51) of rejection, persecution, failure, prejudice, mistreatment, anger, bitterness, etc. They walk away from it and move on. This is part of the reason Jesus commanded His disciples to travel lightly. You can’t travel very far if you’re...

The Church “was being built up and was making steady progress in the fear of the Lord.” –Acts 9:31 The Lord leads us step by step, “from grace to grace” (Jn 1:16, our transl.), and from glory to glory (2 Cor 3:18). For example, Peter took a very important step forward when he obeyed the ascending Christ by devoting himself to constant prayer prior to Pentecost (Acts 1:14). Then he took the giant step of receiving the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, and witnessing for the risen Christ to thousands of people (Acts 2:4ff). These steps prepared Peter to heal...