Wednesday of the 3rd Week of Eastertide
Acts 8:1-8
Jn 6:35-40
Those who had escaped went from place to place preaching the Good News.
I am sure many of us have faced adversity in our lives, some certainly more than others.
I, for one, have thought I had the bad luck to always draw the short end of the stick.
Growing up with my grandaunt, and not having any real contact and relationship with my parents, I thought I was a real ‘poor thing’. I remember once, when I was about 10 or 11, being accused of being a thief.
On that fateful day, I was on my way home when I met E (a neighbour), who asked me whether I had seen a pair of football socks hanging outside another neighbour’s home (let’s call him K). I replied that I had not, and continued on my way.
When I reached home, K saw me and before he could ask me, I replied that I had not seen his socks (based on my earlier conversation with E). Suffice to say, K thought I knew about this because I was the thief.
Over the next few weeks, the accusations continued, and I resorted to hiding out at home; I was really frightened of what could happen to me if K were to catch me alone.
In today’s first reading, we learn that the early Christians were subject to “bitter persecution”. However, after escaping this persecution, they continued to preach the Good News as they travelled from place to place!
I am struck by how deep their faith was! I know that if it were to happen to me today, the tendency will be, as in the incident with K, to hide from this adversity and hope that it would pass.
It is always easy to be a ‘good Christian’ when things are going well, and when there is no price to be paid for one’s faith. The early Christians stood to lose their lives if they were caught, yet they chose to preach for our Lord. I wonder what it would take for me to have such similar faith, faith that would allow me to decide to lose my life for it.
Extending this discussion further, I was thinking about marriages as well. It is easy to love one’s spouse when things are going all ‘lovey dovey’, and when the other person is nice to us. The challenge is when the other person (either knowingly or unknowingly) fails to display these acts of love. How would we choose to act? Would we choose to leave, or divorce them?
Let us learn from the early Christians and learn to truly love, even if it means we have to be hurt in the process.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Paul Wee)
Prayer: Father, please help us to understand what it means to love truly and deeply. Help us, Father, to be able to stand up for our faith, and our marriages.
Thanksgiving: Thank You Jesus, for the gift of those who go before us. We are thankful that how they choose to live their lives courageously shows us the right things to do, and ways to live.
OXYGEN 
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