By Friny Peter Ruwnglal csc
Readings: Acts 16: 22-34: Jn 16: 5-11
The human tendency to hold on or cling on to someone very dear and close to them is undeniable as mentioned in today’s Gospel. This is the sad reality: being so possessive at times prevents one from knowing the truth and reality of life. In such cases, being close to a few persons hold us back and prevents us to know oneself and the others. Hence, it often leads us to having limited circle of friends, no openness to new challenges of life, selfish attitude, comfortable with minimum, and non acceptance of ideas, and opinions.
However, a call to believe in the person of Jesus Christ requires of us a continuous gazing at him through the power and grace of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, to let go someone we love and care at a certain moment is crucial so as to rediscover the true reality of oneself and make amends to deepen one’s faith in Jesus Christ. I firmly believe that anything to do with letting go leads to new beginning and even a change of life. I considered those moments as an invitation to introspect and realize how capable and willing I am to sacrifice the most precious things for the good and growth of the other person.
The first reading did offer me a challenge: “Can I be like St. Paul and Silas when encountering the hardest thing of their lives: continue to pray and sing praises to Christ Jesus”? As result, a miracle took place to show the power of God and strengthen one’s faith. Later, the encounter with the jailer shows a greater sense of responsibility towards ordinary people. Henceforth, I am given a beautiful message to carry forward as religious: to lead people to experience Christ in their hopeless situation, and allowing someone to change in order to be saved. Therefore, this scripture passages helped me realize to give people a God-experience and become other oriented person to make known the real truth about Christ and cause them believe in Jesus Christ, who is alive and present in every human being.