Sixth Sunday after Pascha – Sunday of the Man Born Blind. The Holy Martyr Basiliscus (286-305)
Acts 16:16-34; John 9:1-38
Read Acts 16:16-34
Christ is risen! Truly, He is risen!
A well-done gangster movie can be emotionally gripping. It can pull you into its microcosm of human life and drama. But no matter how much I may enjoy the movie, I always notice that the day-to-day life of a gangster is boring and petty, lacking the full beauty and variety of life. That is central to the commentary such films make.
That is also abundantly evident in our reading today. No matter how dramatically it is dressed up with an evil spirit creating a public showdown, the story boils down to the same-old-same-old predictable elements: people exploiting others for profit and leveraging ethnic divisions to cloud their true intent and get their way – the banality of evil, indeed.
But Sts Paul and Silas are living on a whole different level. Beaten and imprisoned with their feet in stocks, they are praying and singing hymns to God with an attentive audience. Why, when God broke open the doors and loosed everyone’s fetters, was everyone still there when the jailer awoke? Once captive against their wills, the prisoners are now willing captivated by the apostolic testimony regarding the Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s pray that we would be a little more open today to cultivating this way of truly living.