Sunday Vigil
Vigil of Pentecost
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Acts 28,16-20.30-31
On our arrival in Rome Paul was allowed to stay in lodgings of his own with the soldier who guarded him. After three days he called together the leading Jews. When they had assembled, he said to them, 'Brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. They examined me and would have set me free, since they found me guilty of nothing involving the death penalty; but the Jews lodged an objection, and I was forced to appeal to Caesar, though not because I had any accusation to make against my own nation. That is why I have urged you to see me and have a discussion with me, for it is on account of the hope of Israel that I wear this chain.' He spent the whole of the two years in his own rented lodging. He welcomed all who came to visit him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ with complete fearlessness and without any hindrance from anyone.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The conclusion of the Acts describes briefly the delivery of the Gospel to Rome. Paul started his mission in a private house, while he was at the house arrest. Enjoying some benevolence from the Roman authorities, Paul was able to invite the representatives of the Jewish community. Though many did not welcome his preaching they were not hostile to him rather they showed great tolerance and said openly they did not have anything against him. Paul stayed in the house for two years - a house probably nearby the Jewish neighbourhood - and he transformed it in a missionary centre. Though his body was enchained, Paul was running an intense apostolic work: he had people in the house, preached, prayed and wrote letters to the distant communities. Nothing, not even chains, prevented the apostle to communicate the Gospel. What an example for us who have all the tools and means, and yet have a hard time, when we do not forget completely, to speak to the hearts of people! Luke, at this point, interrupts the narration in a brisk way as if to say that the spreading of Christianity in the entire world starts here. Paul's martyrdom is not narrated. From other sources we know that around the end of the second year of his stay in Rome the political climate towards Christians changed and Nero unleashed a persecution during which both Peter and Paul were killed. Luke only underlines that Paul was openly preaching Christian faith. That young man who was keeping the coats while Steven was stoned allowed himself to be seduced by Jesus to the point of walking the streets of the world "proclaiming the kingdom and heling every kind of illness among the people." Once in Rome, Paul, a Jew and a Roman citizen, that is of the world, though he was in chains, lived the great liberty of being Jesus' disciples.