Tuesday 7 May 2024

Today is Tuesday 7 May, in the 6th week of Eastertide.

Michael George and the Corydon Singers, conducted by Matthew Best, sing Libera Me from Fauré’s Requiem. ‘Deliver me, O Lord, from everlasting death, on that dread day when the heavens and earth shall quake and you shall come to judge the earth by fire.’

Libera me, Domine, de morte æterna, in die illa tremenda Quando cœli movendi sunt et terra Dum veneris iudicare sæculum per ignem.
Tremens factus sum ego, et timeo, dum discussio venerit, atque ventura ira Quando cœli movendi sunt et terra.
Dies illa, dies iræ, calamitatis et miseriæ, dies magna et amara valde Dum veneris iudicare sæculum per ignem.
Deliver me, O Lord, from death eternal on that fearful day, When the heavens and the earth shall be moved, When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.
I am made to tremble, and I fear, till the judgment be upon us, and the coming wrath, When the heavens and the earth shall be moved.
That day, day of wrath, calamity and misery, day of great and exceeding bitterness, When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.
Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord: and let light perpetual shine upon them.




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

Acts 16:22-34

The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, ‘Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.’ The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They answered, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.

Though their time in Philippi had begun with great hospitality, in today’s passage we witness the risk that the Good News also brings to Paul and Silas. It is an emotive scene that we can enter into, seeking guidance and understanding.

The passage contains scenes worthy of any action movie. Imagine these missionaries, arrested, flogged and now held with the confines of the darkest and most remote prison cell. Place yourself with Paul and Silas as they are held yet remain steadfast in their faith.

Pay attention to your own emotions and responses. When the earthquake hits, is it God’s hand at work? As a rescue attempt, as retribution against their imprisonment?

So many dynamics at work here - fear and faith, despair and hope, bondage and liberation.

Reflect on how these elements play out in your own life. Where do you encounter similar struggles or moments of grace?

As you listen to the passage again, consider how Paul’s experience calls you to respond. Are there places in your life where you feel imprisoned, either physically, emotionally, or spiritually? How might God be inviting you to experience a new freedom?

‘What must I do to be saved?’

In this time of reflection, share your thoughts and concerns with the Lord. Be assured that there is nowhere God cannot be and nothing that cannot be transformed.

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.