Memory of the Mother of the Lord

Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Acts 14,19-28

Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and turned the people against them. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the town, thinking he was dead. The disciples came crowding round him but, as they did so, he stood up and went back to the town. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe. Having preached the good news in that town and made a considerable number of disciples, they went back through Lystra, Iconium and Antioch. They put fresh heart into the disciples, encouraging them to persevere in the faith, saying, 'We must all experience many hardships before we enter the kingdom of God.' In each of these churches they appointed elders, and with prayer and fasting they commended them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe. They passed through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia. Then after proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia and from there sailed for Antioch, where they had originally been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. On their arrival they assembled the church and gave an account of all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith to the gentiles. They stayed there with the disciples for some time.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The opposers to the preaching of the Gospel do not stop. In Lystra some of them instigate people to stone Paul. After being previously exalted now people turn violent in order to block the proclamation of the Gospel. Paul is stoned. After he had fallen, crushed by the stones, everyone thinks he is dead and leaves him on the side of the road. Only the disciples who had welcomed his preaching stay with him and get close to him. It is easy that as Paul felt the pain of the stones hitting him, his thoughts went to Jerusalem, where he watched Stephen's stoning. The strength of the first martyr certainly sustained Paul through that very difficult trial. Surrounded by the comfort of the disciples, the apostle finds his strength and rises to his feet. Not only does he not flee, but he goes back into the city and the following day continues on to proclaim the Gospel in other cities. The strength that sustains the apostle in his Gospel mission is the love for the Lord that the believer places above everything else, being aware that the Gospel passes also through the cross.