Sunday of the Paralytic; The Holy Hieromartyr Basil, Bishop of Amasia.
Acts 9:32-42; John 5:1-15.
Read Acts 9:32-42
Time is precious. Sometimes there doesn’t seem to be enough hours in a day. And when we do get unscheduled time, we want to protect it for spending with the people and activities we cherish most. Sometimes, simply time to ourselves would be nice. With our time so structured and guarded, where is there room for unplanned encounters?
In this story, Peter is not so much driven as discovering, not focused on a particular goal so much as responding to opportunities. He “went here and there among them all.” As he did so, “he came down also to the saints that lived at Lydda.” There, “he found a man.” And others were intersecting with him in the same way: “Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him.” The result of all this extemporaneous activity was that people “turned to / believed in the Lord.”
Peter had a calling as an apostle to be Christ’s witness “in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth,” (Acts 1:8) Though our callings vary, we share in living the same life in Christ as he. In this story, he is fulfilling his calling like a fisherman casting his net about and seeing what comes up. Those opportunities emerge from being open to them. In our own way, we can prayerfully begin being more open to noticing opportunities to take a moment with people we encounter. As we further enter our days prayerfully this way, we can find our own unique calling of seeing Christ in others, being Christ to others, and sharing Christ with others.