It is 10th May 2018. The readings are from Acts 18:1-8; and the Gospel from John 16:16-20. No mission of love and mercy could be called off by anyone. The mission of love and mercy is never become a failure and it does not just depend on the reception only. Some places with some people, it is hard to sow the seeds of love and mercy. Just like the Apostles we need to move on and go on sowing the seeds of love. Let us not force any human heart to accommodate the seeds of love and mercy. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to clean the hearts of people and make them know the impurity and lies that encroached the human soul. Even though it is indeed challenging to continue to be running the rely to reach the destination of eternal happiness, it is not that easy to achieve without the help of the Holy Spirit. It is frustrating, painful, depressing, seemingly unrewarding to human perception and at least to makes us feel broken into pieces, yet Christ and the Church are benefiting by the individual struggles for the goodness of the Church at last. The Church at the beginning was not received well from a certain group of people and that only offered tremendous impetus to leap forward to the places the church would not have ventured otherwise. The missionaries like St. Paul, Silas, and Timothy never gave up when the environment and the milieu was not ready to receive the Word of God as the seed for the souls. Holiness never found in proud and arrogant hearts who claim that they are well-versed in particular human faculty. God always desires to reside in a humble and contrite heart which tries always to ascend above the peripherals. God leads us where God wants to reside without forgetting anyone who refused to accept the Good News. The first reading speaks of the missionary work of the apostle and his companions and their fruitfulness and the frustration in spreading the Good News at Corinth. “And many of the Corinthians who heard Paul became believers and were baptized.” (Acts. 18:8). The responsorial Psalm praises, “The Lord has shown his salvation to the nation.” (Ps.97:2). In the Gospel Jesus prepared the minds of the Apostles to embrace the time during His passion, death and resurrection and leading them to understand the Ascension. “You will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy.” (Jn.16:20). This is the mystery of the Easter to experience the joy of the Easter when we are going to be filled and strengthened by the arrival of the Holy Spirit as Jesus ascends to the Father. Let nothing from this world hold us back from Christ neither it is emotional, relational, spiritual or rational. It is our responsibility now to continue the mission of Christ in every turn and turf to share the life of Christ and the impact on us. Let us build and protect the Mystical Body of Christ through our humility, perseverance and charity. May you have a good day. God bless you.