Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Christ is Risen!

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord, as well as the final Sunday of the Paschal season!

As was the case last week, today we heard in the Epistle reading how persecutions of Christians led to new people being added to the followers of our Saviour. Last week the persecutors were the Jews, whereas today, for the first time, we read how the gentiles attacked the faithful. It’s interesting to note that those events about which we heard today did not occur in Palestine, Syria or Asia Minor, but in Europe, in Macedonia (in modern-day northern Greece). It’s also important to notice that here, the main figure is no longer Barnabas, but a new apostle, Paul, who is leading this missionary endeavour, and that he has a new helper, Silas. There are also new members of the Church – the jailer and everyone who was in his house. As we read the Acts of the Apostles throughout this Paschal period, we come to the realization that the Church, despite difficulties and persecutions, grew, expanded and established itself in a short time.

Today let’s pay special attention to the way that the Apostle Paul reacted to being beaten and imprisoned. We have to remember that Paul, along with being a pious Jew, was also a Roman citizen. This citizenship granted him particular rights and privileges and freed him from corporal punishments and imprisonment without a preliminary court hearing. St. Paul, immediately after being caught, could have announced that he was a citizen and thus avoided being beaten and imprisoned, but he did not wish to do this. He was happy to suffer for the sake of Christ and truth. The fact that he and Silas, after being beaten, injured and held fast in prison, were able to sing prayers and praises to God, bears witnesses to their noble-mindedness and devotion to Christ. After being freed in a miraculous manner at midnight, St. Paul did not fall asleep in a comfortable bed, nor did he take some time off to recuperate from his injuries, but immediately began to preach so as to join new members to the Church!

Let us try to emulate St. Paul in his zeal for the Lord. Let’s also try to make sure that troubles and temptations, which are our constant companions, do not lead us away from Christ. Let’s pray that in the course of our short earthly sojourn, faith in the risen Christ multiplies in our hearts and penetrates into all spheres of our lives, just like the faith was spread throughout the Roman Empire by St. Paul, so many years ago.

priest Alexis