Amazing things happen in the Acts of the Apostles, and we hear of such a one in today's first reading. Paul is dragged before his accusers, whom his preaching challenged. He sizes up the situation and gets them arguing between their two groups about whether or not there is a resurrection of the body. Paul is taken to the fortress in that commotion, where he is safe.

That night the Lord appears, and though he has been spared, his life becomes more complicated, "Keep up your courage. Just as you have given testimony to Me here in Jerusalem, so must you do in Rome." Paul has heard His Master's voice before and knows the call well.

Jesus, in today's Gospel, confirms His friends as those who, like Paul, are to go out and make Him known by their preaching and living together in union with Him.

We are those to whom He has been sent and those sent in Him to bless this world and make it more blessed. This coming Sunday is the celebration of the Sending of the Holy Spirit.

God's Holy Spirit reveals the labouring God through the gestures and activities of the believers who make God present in their lives. We are giving God visibility and attractiveness through our being open to the urging of this same Spirit of holiness, which is God.