The 6th Sunday of Easter | Sunday 14 May 2023

Today is Sunday the 14th of May, beginning the sixth week of Easter.

The monks of the Abbey of Keur Moussa sing:
This is the time, most Holy Spirit, when you, One with the Father and the Son,
come to shed your light in the hearts of your faithful.

Pause for a moment, and become aware of the Holy Spirit, present here, come to give life and light. Pause for a moment, and welcome that light into your life.

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Today’s reading is from the Acts of the Apostles.

Acts 8:5-8,14-17

Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them. The crowds with one accord listened eagerly to what was said by Philip, hearing and seeing the signs that he did, for unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, came out of many who were possessed; and many others who were paralysed or lame were cured. So, there was great joy in that city.

Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

What a contrast between the disciples cowering around that Passover meal before Jesus’ death, and here, just a few weeks after His resurrection. Strong, confident, proclaiming the message of Christ, performing miracles, bringing joy, motivating others to listen eagerly. The Holy Spirit - promised to them by Jesus - is at work. Picture the scene. Stay with that sense of transformation. Allow yourself to be immersed in it.


Is that a transformation you’d like too? From cowering to confidence, from fear to joy? You might like to ask for that now…

The disciples have truly become God’s servants, as Jesus explained, as he laid out in that intense 24 hours before his death. He has passed the baton. What might it feel like to have that baton passed to you? You could stretch out and grasp it. Be all that God has made you to be.


As you hear the passage again, let yourself accompany the disciples in their new-found, Holy Spirit-filled assuredness.


You might like to address the Trinity in your closing prayer today: God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Speak about whatever has stirred in your heart today.


Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.