Doing it for Jesus in preaching the Good News
It is 25th May 2017. We celebrate Africa Day. May the Lord kindly bless Africa and the people with peace and unity. The readings are from Acts 18:1-8; and the Gospel from John 16:16-20. The first reading shares the ministry of St. Paul in the city of Corinth. Unlike the Athens, the people and the life style in Corinth were different and challenging. St. Paul preached several times in the synagogues to convince the people to accept Jesus but they refused to accept the Lord and so St. Paul moved towards the Gentiles. His preaching and personal sharing of his faith brought many new believers for Christ from Gentiles. With the help and the power of the Holy Spirit we can leap into any challenging and hostile environments. The conversion of human hearts belongs to the Lord. We just need to share the Good News without mixing our personal agenda and wishes and working with our own hands like St. Paul. We need to take on board as many workers as like Aquila and Priscilla in spreading the Gospel. One man/woman show will surely be a less-productive and without much creativity. The responsorial Psalm praises, “The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations.” (Ps.97:2). The Gospel invites us to take up the responsibility of sharing the Gospel of our Lord after His departure. Joy of the Gospel is in the spreading of the Good News to all people. It is all time that changes everything. God’s time and God’s presence is with everyone who is willing to go through some sort of inconveniences during those ‘little while’ when we do not encounter Jesus physically. We must not be sad for not seeing Him physically, but we need to work for Him in sharing the Good News with everyone that surely makes us feel the presence of the Jesus in us and around us. Joy is the gift of the Holy Spirit to all who are willing to believe and share the Word of God. May you have a good day.