Quo vadis, Domine? – Tuesday of the VI week of Easter
In those days, the crowd [degli abitanti di Filippi] rose up against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates, having their clothes torn off, ordered them to be beaten and, after having beaten them, threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep a good guard. Having received this order, he threw them into the innermost part of the prison and secured their feet to the stocks. Around midnight Paul and Silas, in prayer, sang hymns to God, while the prisoners listened to them. Suddenly there came such a strong earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken; immediately all the doors opened and everyone’s chains fell off. The jailer woke up and, seeing the prison doors open, took out his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted loudly: “Do not hurt yourself, we are all here.” He then asked for a light, rushed in and, trembling, fell at the feet of Paul and Silas; then he led them out and said, “Gentlemen, what must I do to be saved?” They replied: “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your family will be saved.” And they proclaimed the word of the Lord to him and to all those of his house. He took them with him at that time of night, washed their wounds and immediately he and all his children were baptized; then he made them go up into the house, set the table and was filled with joy together with all his family for having believed in God.
Inhabit the pain with prayer to learn to be free to love
Paul and Silas, awaiting the definitive judgment of the authorities of Philippi, are flogged and locked up in prison as the most dangerous of criminals. They live this painful moment by praying in hymns and psalms, as Paul himself writes to the Christians of Colossae: May the word of Christ dwell among you in his riches.
In all wisdom instruct and admonish one another in psalms and hymns and inspired songs, with gratitude, singing to God in your hearts. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father (3, 16-17). Although imprisoned and in chains, the missionaries express their freedom of soul through prayer which also involves and consoles the other prisoners.
The earthquake is a sign from God which is not an invitation to escape from pain, but to live in it so that the chains that prevent us from doing good and walking on the path of justice fall and the doors open to escape from the isolation of opportunism and selfish individualism. Paul, in fact, reassures that all the prisoners are there, no one is missing, because no prisoner has escaped.
Paolo’s reassurance prevents the jailer from committing a suicidal act which instead turns into a request for baptism for him and his family. The conversion of an entire family and the joy it experiences are the fruit of the pain experienced by the apostles with trust and gratitude to God in prayer.
Just as Stephen’s prayer while he was being martyred generates the conversion of Saul, just as the community’s prayer supports Peter who is freed from prison, so the prayer of Paul and Silas in prison leads to a real earthquake in the life of the jailer who arrives at salvation with his family by believing in Jesus and adhering to his word. The litmus test of authentic conversion is welcoming and sharing, that is, the Eucharist experienced with joy.
If I don’t leave, the Paraclete will not come to you.
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples:
«Now I go to him who sent me and none of you asks me: “Where are you going?”. Indeed, because I told you this, sadness filled your heart.
But I tell you the truth: it is good for you that I go away, because if I don’t go away, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send it to you.
And when he comes, he will demonstrate the guilt of the world regarding sin, righteousness, and judgment. Concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will no longer see me; concerning judgment, because the prince of this world is already condemned.”
Listen to “Don Pasquale Giordano – Commentary on the Gospel of the day – 7 May 2024” on Spreaker.
Quo vadis, Domine?
The detachment of death is a trauma and the mere thought of it causes sadness. It filled the hearts of the disciples and also fills ours, preventing us, as had happened to them too, from looking beyond death and catching a glimpse of a meaning that surpasses human expectations and disappointments. Pain also causes a closure of the mind which perhaps asks itself many questions but not the right one to healthily process the suffering.
The more we feel the void of meaning of what is traumatic happening to us, the more our mind becomes crowded with questions that keep us within the perimeter of human reasoning. Jesus invites us to ask a question: “Where are you going?”, That is, to ask what the horizon is on which the eyes of his heart rest. “Where are you going?” it is a request to share the same hope that drives Jesus’ choice to love us until the end.
Questions like this are an open door to welcoming the other even if we don’t fully understand their choices. We place ourselves in an attitude of listening and thus broaden our own vision by uniting it with that of the other. This also applies in the relationship with God. Questioning him means seeking the meaning of life by accepting to let ourselves be accompanied by his Word.
Even from what appears to be a tragedy in the eyes of the disciples, good can come. Jesus assures that his death and separation from them is a necessary, albeit painful, step for the Holy Spirit to come. How many times are we unable to see in the dramas of life a new thing that appears and an opportunity that presents itself before us.
The Holy Spirit, enlightening us, sheds light on the guilt of the world or the closure to the grace of God. Rejection of God condemns us to sadness, blindness of heart and to suffering the same defeat as the prince of this world.
Commentary by Don Pasquale Giordano
Episcopal vicar for evangelization and catechesis and director of the Center for Biblical Spirituality in Matera
Source – Don Pasquale’s blog “You have Words of eternal life“
