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

This text is like a summary of Paul's first missionary journey. It is an important memory that is presented in the book of Acts as a model for any future mission whose heart is always the proclamation of the Gospel. It is not just a geographical mission, but a human experience of meeting people from different cultures and cities. And the Gospel is not only communicated in synagogues, in places, that is, linked to the religious tradition of the Bible, but also in squares, where 'the whole city' gathers. It is an image that brings to mind the need of our cities to receive the Gospel, through a broad preaching that reaches everyone. Communicating the Gospel in the city creates a new way of living together, and the disciples' and Paul's concern is to create communities that live that Gospel. And Paul's effort will be to confirm and exhort: that is, to make solid those fraternities born of the gospel. And the apostle's strength is the Word alone, and it is through this preaching that the Lord works in the life of each community and continues to open to the people of our cities "the door of faith."