Tuesday 8 May 2018
Acts 16:22-34. Psalm 137(138):1-3, 7-8. John 16:5-11.
Your right hand has saved me, O Lord—Psalm 137(138):1-3, 7-8.
He and his whole household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.
These words end the story of the conversion of the gaoler assigned to guard Paul and Silas in today’s first reading. The story begins with the gaoler ready to suicide because the prisoners have escaped. But the right hand of God becomes his salvation when Paul and Silas persuade him and his household to believe in Jesus.
He accepts Jesus and his faith immediately becomes a liberating experience. He and his family are baptised and he finds time to bathe the wounds of Paul and Silas and set food before them.
The elements of healing and hospitality are interwoven with this man’s first experience of faith. They continue to sustain every community that grows out of faith in Jesus.
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