Posted by The WORD in other words (2023) by Fr Andrew Amanor SVD – Christ the King Seminary, Quezon City
Saturday 4th Week of Easter
In both readings today, we hear of the consequences of believing and accepting the Word of God when it is preached.
In the first reading, a group of gentiles (so-called outsiders or unbelievers) became happy after hearing Paul and Barnabas preach that God has made them worthy of eternal life. Though they were considered outsiders, they were now brought back to God. This made them very happy. They did not just feel jubilant, but they also decided to become part of the community. This is how powerful the effect of their preaching was.
In psychology, we call these positive emotions: an experience of good feeling (hedonic experience) which affects the way we act (eudaimonic experience).
In the Gospel, Jesus told his disciples of the consequences of their belief in him, ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do and will do greater ones than these…’ Believing in Jesus can have powerful consequences for them.
What does this mean for me? It means I must be aware of the powerful effect of the Word of God to change my life in a powerful way when I act on it. The Word can produce powerful feelings of joy, hope, inner peace, respect for creation, etc. If there are miracles we need in our world right now, these are the ones.
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