Saturday of the 5th week of Eastertide
First Reading — Acts 16:1–10
‘Come across to Macedonia and help us’
From Cilicia Paul went to Derbe, and then on to Lystra. Here there was a disciple called Timothy, whose mother was a Jewess who had become a believer; but his father was a Greek. The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of Timothy, and Paul, who wanted to have him as a travelling companion, had him circumcised. This was on account of the Jews in the locality where everyone knew his father was a Greek.
As they visited one town after another, they passed on the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, with instructions to respect them.
So the churches grew strong in the faith, as well as growing daily in numbers.
They travelled through Phrygia and the Galatian country, having been told by the Holy Spirit not to preach the word in Asia. When they reached the frontier of Mysia they thought to cross it into Bithynia, but as the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them, they went through Mysia and came down to Troas.
One night Paul had a vision: a Macedonian appeared and appealed to him in these words, ‘Come across to Macedonia and help us.’ Once he had seen this vision we lost no time in arranging a passage to Macedonia, convinced that God had called us to bring them the Good News.
Responsorial Psalm — Psalm 99(100):1–3,5
Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing for joy.
Know that he, the Lord, is God.
He made us, we belong to him,
we are his people, the sheep of his flock.
Indeed, how good is the Lord,
eternal his merciful love.
He is faithful from age to age.
Gospel — John 15:18–21
The world hated me before it hated you
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘If the world hates you,
remember that it hated me before you.
If you belonged to the world,
the world would love you as its own;
but because you do not belong to the world,
because my choice withdrew you from the world,
therefore the world hates you.
Remember the words I said to you:
A servant is not greater than his master.
If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too;
if they kept my word, they will keep yours as well.
But it will be on my account that they will do all this,
because they do not know the one who sent me.’
Reflection
Acts presents a path that unfolds through interruption. Paul is not moving with uninterrupted certainty—he is being redirected. Doors close. Plans are blocked. The Spirit prevents movement in one direction before revealing another.
This is difficult for us because we tend to interpret closed paths as failure. But Scripture often presents them differently. Sometimes what appears obstructive is actually formative. Guidance is not always a straight line—it is discerned through attentiveness and surrender.
The Catechism speaks of the Holy Spirit as the one who guides the Church and leads believers toward truth across time and circumstance (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church 737, 767). Paul’s journey reflects this reality. He does not control the mission. He responds to it.
Then the Gospel removes any illusion that discipleship will always be affirmed by the world.
“If the world hates you…”
Christ speaks with directness here. To belong to Him is to become distinct from systems of value that oppose truth. Not through superiority, but through allegiance. And this creates tension.
Most people want a faith that integrates smoothly into every environment without resistance. But Christ does not describe that. He describes a life that may be misunderstood precisely because it no longer draws identity from the same place.
This does not justify hostility or arrogance.
It calls for endurance.
Because the temptation is not always to abandon Christ openly. More often, it is to soften what is difficult in order to remain accepted.
But truth loses something when it is reshaped entirely around comfort.
So the question becomes deeply personal.
When the path changes unexpectedly, do you still trust God is leading?
When truth costs acceptance, do you still remain with it?
Paul moves because he recognises the voice calling him forward.
The disciple must learn to do the same.
One line to carry today:
A closed path may be the very thing guiding you where you truly need to go.
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