Acts 16:22-34

Acts 16:22-34

The crowd in Philippi joined in the attack on Paul and Silas,

and the magistrates had them stripped

and ordered them to be beaten with rods.

After inflicting many blows on them,

they threw them into prison

and instructed the jailer to guard them securely.

When he received these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell

and secured their feet to a stake.

About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying

and singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened,

there was suddenly such a severe earthquake

that the foundations of the jail shook;

all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose. 

When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open,

he drew his sword and was about to kill himself,

thinking that the prisoners had escaped.

But Paul shouted out in a loud voice,

“Do no harm to yourself; we are all here.”

He asked for a light and rushed in and,

trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas.

Then he brought them out and said,

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus

and you and your household will be saved.”

So they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house.

He took them in at that hour of the night and bathed their wounds;

then he and all his family were baptized at once.

He brought them up into his house and provided a meal

and with his household rejoiced at having come to faith in God.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, guide me with your Holy Spirit. I cannot save myself or sanctify myself through my own efforts. Salvation and holiness are gifts from you. I am saved and sanctified by welcoming your saving grace in faith and in the Sacraments. Work in me, reign in my heart, and send me out like the Apostles to bring others into communion with you.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Spirit will Convince the World of Sin: We see the Holy Spirit at work in the First Reading. The Spirit urged Paul and Silas to proclaim the Gospel to the ends of the earth, strengthened them during unjust persecution, empowered them to cast out demons, and enlightened their minds so that they could teach others. The Spirit is the one, who “exposes the sin of unbelief for what it is (John 3:20), convinces the world that Christ, though condemned as a criminal, was truly righteous (John 8:46), and makes it known that Satan and every enemy of Christ will face judgment for rejecting him (John 5:26-29; 12:31)” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, 1920).

2. Exorcism of the Python Spirit: One of the signs that accompanied the proclamation of the Gospel in Philippi was an exorcism. Just as Jesus cast out demons during his public ministry, so also Paul frees the slave girl from the spirit of divination (or python spirit), casting out the demon in the name of Jesus Christ. The python represented the mystical serpent, slain by Apollo at the site of the temple at Delphi, a temple famous for its prophetic oracles. The Delphic Sibyl or priestess was known as the “Pythia” and would sometimes prophesy in a possessed state. Even though what the demon says through the slave girl is true – “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation” – Paul, like Jesus, silences the evil spirit (see Luke 4:35). Authentic testimony comes from heaven above and not from the underworld below. The demon or “python spirit” confesses out of fear and not out of a genuine faith informed by divine love (see James 2:19). The slave owners were angered by the exorcism because they had just lost a source of income. They didn’t rejoice that the girl was released from the bondage of Satan, nor did they glorify God for his goodness and mercy. Instead, they dragged Paul and Silas before the magistrates, accusing them of advocating customs unlawful for Romans to practice. Paul and Silas were judged without trial, given over to the crowd, beaten with rods, and imprisoned. These punishments were unlawful since Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. But Paul tactfully refrained from telling the magistrates about his citizenship until the following morning and chose to suffer this humiliation for the name of Christ.

3. The Salvation of the Jailer and His Household: In the end, the magistrates recognized their error and had to redress the wrong by leading Paul and his companions out of the city. Paul insisted that the magistrates come themselves “and escort the missionaries out publicly, to restore their honor after unjustly disgracing them. This action would be important for the reputation of the incipient Christian community as well as for the missionaries’ prospects for returning to Philippi” (Kurz, Acts of the Apostles, 259). Paul’s deliverance from prison through an earthquake recalls how Peter was twice rescued from prison by an angel sent by God (Acts 5:19; 12:6-11). On seeing the prison doors open, the jailer thought the prisoners had escaped and that he would face disgrace and a terrible punishment (see Acts 12:19 when Herod executes Peter’s guards). The jailer mistakenly thought that suicide was the way out of his predicament. Paul called out to the jailer and prevented him from committing suicide. Having been saved by Paul from death by suicide, the jailer now asks Paul about salvation from eternal death: “What must I do to be saved?” Paul’s response is simple: “Believe in the Lord Jesus.” The jailer and his household were baptized that very night by Paul and were welcomed into the community of faith. Years later, Paul wrote a letter of thanks and encouragement to the Philippians, who generously and continuously supported him in his mission with their prayers and with financial assistance. The members of the Church in Philippi are Paul’s “joy and crown” (Philippians 4:1). Much of the letter to the Philippians challenges the community “to grow in spiritual maturity by imitating both their Savior and their founding apostle. For this reason, Paul holds up Jesus Christ as the model of humility and selfless love and himself as a model of patient endurance” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, 2094).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I renew my faith in your divine power over evil. The devil wants me to be discouraged, despair, and turn my gaze from you. You, however, invite me to turn to the Counselor who convicts the world of sin, judges the devil, and shows me the path to righteousness.

Living the Word of God: There are two lessons we can learn from today’s First Reading. The first lesson is that sometimes God asks us to suffer and patiently endure injustice as Paul did. Not only are we able to join our suffering to the redemptive passion of Jesus, but we are also consoled as we suffer, confident that our sorrow will turn to joy, either in this life or in the next. The second lesson is that, as a community of believers, we should rejoice when our brothers and sisters encounter the faith and turn from the slavery of sin to the freedom of God’s children. We need to learn how to reserve judgment to God and rejoice for those who come into or return to the fold.