A Supportive Friend
by Fr. David M. Knight
Thursday, January 25, 2024
Week III in Ordinary Time; Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul
Lectionary No. 519
Acts 22:3-16 (or 9:1-22); Psalm 117; Mark 16:15-18
"These signs will accompany those who believe…" Mark 16:17
Jesus chose us, like Paul, to continue his mission. He never promised it would be easy, but he did promise his support. And that is an understatement. Jesus gives so much support that, no matter how much he lays on us, he can say, “My yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
God told Ananias: “This man [Paul] is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles... I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name.”
Paul bore witness, and suffered for it. But God supported him: “Saul (Paul) grew all the stronger and reduced [his adversaries] in Damascus to silence by proving that Jesus was the Messiah.”
Jesus says to us today: “These signs will accompany those who believe…” And they do.
Jesus supports our ministry. We speak a different language than our culture, handle its seductive products, drink in its poisons, and drive out its demons. These signs prove Jesus is the Messiah, still active among us.
Wherever Jesus sends us, he goes with us.
Later the Lord told Paul, “Keep up your courage!… You must bear witness also in Rome.” There Paul bore the ultimate witness of martyrdom (Acts 23:11). And Jesus supported him.
Friendship is interaction. Interact with Jesus and he will never fail to support you.
ACTION: Never hold back out of fear from doing anything Jesus asks.
PRAYER: “Lord, do this with me, do this in me, do this through me.”
Reflections brought to you by the Immersed in Christ Ministry
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