Wednesday of 6th Week of Easter: reflection

Theme: May God give us the grace to stand firm even when we are mocked on account of our faith.

Reading: Acts 17:15,22–18:1

One of the key points to delivering a good speech or a good homily is the knowledge of one’s audience. A good knowledge of one’s audience will assist the speaker/homilist to tailor down his speech/homily to their standard, using images known to them to enter into their world, connect with them and beautifully drive down his message.

In the first reading of today, St Paul conducted extensive research on his audience — the Athenians — and carefully chose his images before going to the Areopagus to address them. Despite his effort to connect with their world through images known to them and the eloquence with which he spoke, his message was greeted with rejection. This is an experience that many preachers of the Word of God are often faced with in our own world too. Many people of our time reject the Good News despite the honest efforts of preachers to substantiate their messages with exemplary lifestyles.

However, it is worth noting that despite the rejection of Paul’s message by the majority of the Areopagites, God still did his wonders by opening the hearts of some of them to accept Paul’s message. This first reading gave their names as Dionysius, Damaris and others. What does this tell us?

Dear friends, the lesson is that we should not be discouraged nor give up when people respond to our good messages, admonitions and exemplary lifestyles with outright rejection or mockery, as has become the case in many places these days; it tells us not to grow cold in our faith when we are insulted for witnessing for Christ, because there is the possibility that our message touched one or two hearts who will need our steadfastness in faith to nurture the seed we have sown in them.

May God give us the grace to stand firm even when we are mocked on account of our faith.

Fr Isaac Chima