Sunday of the Samaritan Woman. Holy Apostles Jason and Sosipater. Holy Martyrs Dadas, Maximus and Quintilianus (286-305). Our Father among the Saints Cyril of Turau (1183).
Acts 11:19-26, 29-30. John 4:5-42.
Read Acts 11:19-26, 29-30
Christ is risen! Truly, He is risen!
With so many things going on at the same time in our lives and in the world, how do we discern our way through them? Jesus said, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8) The things happening in today’s epistle reading are like leaves by which we can discern the direction in which the Wind is blowing.
The first word, “Now,” refers to the preceding verse where the Holy Spirit reveals to the Jewish Christians through Peter, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.” The reading ends with a new Jewish-Gentile church in Antioch sending famine relief to that mother church in Jerusalem. In between we find persecuted, scattered people, not passively being blown along by the winds of change but actively living and sharing their faith with both Jews and Gentiles as they go. We find episcopal oversight exercised in commissioning Barnabas (who brings in Paul) to deeply ground the new disciples in the faith. Twice the growth in conversations is emphasized.
The direction of God’s heart is clear – outward to all people and inward to their depths. And a way for us to follow God’s heart as co-workers with Him is always possible – living our faith in flexible response to circumstances and firm support of the Church. No matter what is going on around us, we will always find the Spirit leading us in this direction.