Tuesday of the
Fifth Week of Easter
(Acts 14:19-28; John 14:27-31a)
Abraham Lincoln steered the United States through its
most perilous moment. He is often
considered strong as a bull and clear-sighted as an eagle. In truth he suffered from severe depression
that made him consider suicide. But he
refused to allow himself that way out.
He rebounded from his melancholy to think himself through personal
difficulties by giving attention to the great challenge of his time. In the first reading today we see Paul
responding to a crisis with similar resiliency.
Paul deeply wants his fellow Jews to believe in
Jesus. He knows that they will find
salvation only through him. He preaches Jesus’
lordship in the synagogues of Asia Minor, but the proclamation is continually
rejected. In today’s reading from Acts
he is beaten and left for dead by his compatriots. But Paul rises from the setback to redirect
his message. If he cannot convince the
Jews of Jesus, he surmises that the pagans may heed him. The beating even becomes a stimulus to work
harder among a different group of people.
We too may feel defeated at times. Perhaps our friends don’t believe in Jesus or
are at best lukewarm about their faith.
Still to us Jesus not only is our destiny but our means to attain
it. We must not lose heart. Rather we will find in Jesus the wisdom to
overcome life’s challenges. We should also
meet others with similar convictions to support us along the way.
