‘If the word “thank you” were the only prayer you ever uttered, it would be enough’ (Master Eckhart).
We might be tempted to think that such statements make salvation too easy for human beings. But let us also remember the words of God the Father to Sister Eugenia Ravasio, in which He says that anyone who sincerely calls upon Him once with the name ‘Father’ will not be condemned. This gives us great hope for the salvation of souls, grounded in God’s saving will.
“You, of comforters the best;
You, the soul’s most welcome guest;
Sweet refreshment here below;
In our labor, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.”
The Holy Spirit is the Comforter whom the Lord has given us. The Apostle Paul tells us: “He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Cor 1:4).
‘Everything I have done has been by the order of our Lord. I have done nothing in the world except what God has commanded me to do’ (Saint Joan of Arc).
In the 15th century, Saint Joan of Arc was able to utter these wonderful words before the court of Rouen, which wanted to condemn her as a witch to please the enemies of the French monarchy of that time.
“Come, Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine”.
The term “poor” includes all of us, especially those who are aware of their own poverty.
In our spiritual life we learn that we are always in need. It is the Holy Spirit who teaches us how great God’s love is and how far we are from it.
However, this knowledge does not become a reason for us to sink into sadness or even despair. On the contrary, it is a reason to lean even more on God’s love, trusting that He will have mercy on our poverty. Then it will be God who will make us rich, for He Himself is our wealth.
Having concluded our journey through the Acts of the Apostles, in which we have accompanied these tireless witnesses of the Gospel on their missionary journeys, with all their sufferings but also with their joy at the spread of the faith, we now wish to focus our attention on the Holy Spirit, in keeping with the liturgical season.
For it was He who guided the mission of the apostles, who had to wait for His coming before beginning their ministry among all peoples. With today’s meditation we enter into the imminent preparation for Pentecost.
As a guiding star for the following meditations, I turn to the Pentecost Sequence, which is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful prayers of the Church:
‘You only have to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and then everything that my fatherly kindness has planned can come true’ (Inner Word).
The Father and the Son have sent us the best inner Teacher, who guides us safely through this life, shapes us in God’s image and makes our life fruitful, always provided we follow His instructions: it is the Holy Spirit.
“Who shall not return love to Him who thus loves us?
Who of the redeemed shall not love Him,
and choose in that Heart
his eternal abode?”
Shortly after Paul was taken to Caesarea, the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and the lawyer Tertullus to bring their charges against him before the procurator Felix (Acts 24:1). However, Paul defended himself, and Felix found no grounds for condemning him, so he postponed the case (v. 22). So Paul remained in Caesarea for two years, under guard but with certain liberties. Felix’s successor, Porcius Festus, left Paul in prison to please the Jews (v. 27).
As soon as he took office, Festus had to face the accusations of the chief priests and the leaders of the Jews against Paul (Acts 25:1-2). They asked him to transfer him from Caesarea to Jerusalem, ‘planning an ambush to kill him on the way’ (v. 3). But Festus refused and replied that they should go down to Caesarea (vv. 4-5). When they arrived and presented their accusations, Festus asked Paul if he wanted to go up to Jerusalem to be tried there (v. 9), to which Paul replied:
‘Who, if not us? When, if not now?’ (Saint Joan of Arc).
These words were spoken by Saint Joan of Arc, and were probably addressed to the army entrusted to her by King Charles VII to fulfil God’s command to liberate France from English occupation.
After the series of the last three meditations, in which we addressed the crisis of the Church’s mission in the light of the witness of the apostles, we will now turn to the last chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. We will do so with a slightly different outline than in the last few weeks, since the last chapters speak for themselves. I can only strongly recommend to everyone to take the time to read them in their entirety. They are very rich in the sense that they narrate the following missionary journeys of St. Paul and all that happened in them. However, in the following meditations I will limit myself to summarising the events, emphasising one or the other key point.
After leaving Athens, Paul spent a very fruitful time in Corinth (Acts 18). There he was comforted by the Lord through a vision, who told him not to be afraid and that no one could harm him (vv. 9-10). Paul stayed one year and six months in Corinth (v. 11).
