Tagged: Daily Reflections

“The Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away.” —Acts 8:39 Jesus’ last words before He ascended into heaven were: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes down on you; then you are to be My witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, yes, even to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Philip, the deacon and evangelist (see Acts 21:8), may have been the first person to fulfill the promise and command of Jesus to be His witness to the ends of the earth. Philip was instrumental in reaching Ethiopia with the Gospel. He did this by converting...

“Philip, for example, went down to the town of Samaria and there proclaimed the Messiah.” —Acts 8:5 Philip, the deacon, was a witness for the risen Jesus no matter where he was. He witnessed in Jerusalem and even in Samaria. Philip witnessed to Simon the Magician (Acts 8:13), the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:35), and his four daughters who became prophetesses (Acts 21:8-9). He witnessed at home, in Jerusalem, in Samaria, and then in the Ethiopian’s chariot on “the road which goes from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route” (Acts 8:26). Then the Spirit “snatched Philip away” (Acts 8:39). “Philip found...

“God’s bread comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” —John 6:33 Did you ever fall in love with someone and wonder if they really loved you? You might wonder: Does she really love me for who I am, or only for what I can do for her? Will he love me when I grow old? Will she still love me when the attraction fades away? If you aren’t at your best, and your beloved nevertheless loves you even more, then your heart is filled with joy. Jesus, “Who dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Tm 6:16), came down...

“The members of the Sanhedrin who sat there stared at him intently. Throughout, Stephen’s face seemed like that of an angel.” —Acts 6:15 If a large number of people were debating with you, what would be the expression on your face and the reactions in your heart? What if, after your opponents lost the debate, “they persuaded some of the men to make the charge that they had heard” you “speaking blasphemies” (Acts 6:11)? When others lie about you and falsely accuse you, how do you look; how do you act? If these liars were believed and you were accosted,...

“Your faith and hope, then, are centered in God.” —1 Peter 1:21 The two disciples on the road to Emmaus said they “were hoping” that Jesus would redeem Israel (Lk 24:21). The two disciples lost hope when Jesus was crucified. Many likewise may be struggling to hold on to hope. We may feel that we have “toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent” our strength in our families, evangelization, work, or life in general (Is 49:4). We know that the Lord has promised that our “hope will not leave us disappointed,” but we feel disappointed anyway (see Rm 5:5)....