Another miraculous happening, a freeing from  chains and another complete conversion of a pagan family. The times of the Acts were filled with the presence of the Lord . Instant belief seems to have been the norm. The Apostles must have had a great aura of sanctity that so many people were drawn to believe their message. And what was that teaching ? Nothing more or less than that the Crucified Jesus was raised from the dead to be the Way to a new life for all mankind. Its possible to write the entire teaching of the  Apostles in two or three sentences and yet hundreds of people came to faith in God through these words. What was the other something that was at work in those days?

Dear Lord you inspired so many to believe in your early Church that the mustard seed grew to be a shrub to shelter all the world, please let your Holy Spirit fill our beings so that we to can come to sincere belief in the Father and make  His Church  a witness to His Glory.

There is nothing ambivalent about Jesus' teaching in John's Gospel. It is direct but by no means simple. That I have to leave you will make you despondent.  I am going to the Father who sent me. I will send you an Advocate. Where have we gone wrong? The Advocate will show the world that it was wrong and sinful. Who is taking up that role iin these times? We are a desolate people without the Lord and yet he promised that he would be with us even to the end of time. His presence is certainly not shining out of the heart of His Church as it did in the Gospels and in the Acts.

Lord let us live our lives in your presence secure in the promises you have made and fervent in our commitment to  the guidance of the Holy Spirit who is Your Father's Love for You  and for his creation.