Saturday, Fifth Week of Easter

The sense we get from today’s first reading is that the journey of Paul and his companions was shaped not just by themselves but by the Lord and his Spirit. The Spirit told them not to preach the word in Asia and would not allow them to pass into Bithynia, both areas now referring to modern day western Turkey. Yet, when Paul was in Troas he had a vision directing him to pass over to Macedonia in Northern Greece, which he immediately set about doing. On the journey of faith we are always being led. It is not a journey we travel just on the strength of our own resources alone. It is the fruit of our relationship with the Lord and his with us. We try to listen to the Lord so as to discern what it is he wants us to do and where he wants us to go. If we are faithful to the Lord’s promptings, as Paul and his companions were, we may find ourselves at odds with aspects of the world in which we live. Jesus declares in the gospel reading, ‘because my choice withdrew you from the world, therefore the world hates you’. The Lord’s loving choice of us does not physically withdraw us from the world, but it will often leave us estranged from the ways that the world sometimes operates. His choice of us and our response to it may not bring hatred down upon us, but it will often leave us feeling exposed and isolated. This is why we always need to travel this journey of faith together, with other people of faith, just as Paul always journeyed with others in his efforts to bring the good news to those who had not yet heard it.