Hearth & Altar

Acts ends here, on this Saturday before Pentecost, with Paul in Rome receiving all who came to him, preaching the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with complete assurance and without hindrance. The journey from Damascus to Rome is complete. He is in chains and he is unhindered. He is a prisoner and the Gospel is not. The book ends mid-sentence, in the middle of the mission, because the mission did not end.

And John's Gospel ends with a question Peter asks about the Beloved Disciple - what about him? - and Jesus's answer: what is that to you? Follow me. The Gospel closes not with a triumphant conclusion but with the same call it contained throughout: follow me. The one who follows has no claim on what happens to anyone else. Follow me is the whole instruction.

Tonight is the Pentecost Vigil. Tomorrow the Easter season ends and the ordinary time of the Church begins - the time in which the Spirit-filled Church goes into the world to do what Paul did in Rome: receive all who come, preach the Kingdom with complete assurance, and remain unhinderable in the things that matter most.

• For our family, that we would receive all who come to us - the unexpected visitor, the difficult person, the one who arrives with questions - with Paul's complete assurance and without hindrance, we pray to the Lord.
• For those who are in chains and unhinderable at the same time, that the grace Paul knew in Rome would sustain them, we pray to the Lord.
• For each of us, that the only word we need tonight would be the one Jesus gives Peter: follow me, we pray to the Lord.
• In this final evening of the novena week, for the Spirit who arrives tomorrow at Pentecost, we pray to the Lord.

He received all who came to him. This week, receive whoever comes to you - the person you were not expecting, the need you did not plan for, the conversation that interrupts the schedule. Receive them with complete assurance. The unhinderable Gospel moves through the person who receives.

What about him? Peter asks about the Beloved Disciple and Jesus redirects: what is that to you? Follow me. Your children will compare themselves to each other and to other families. The answer you give them is the same: what is that to you? Follow me. Your course is yours. Their course is theirs. The following is all that is asked.