Thursday of the Third Week of Easter
Optional Memorial of Saint Adalbert, Bishop and Martyr
Optional Memorial of Saint George, Martyr
Reflect on the first reading in today’s Mass. It describes nicely the steps of conversion: a spiritual thirst on the part of the eunuch, followed by a swiftness of faith and a response to the Holy Spirit, mediated by Philip; the Gaza baptism and a description of Christian joy.
Who was the eunuch? A high ranking official of the queen of Ethiopia, which in those days included Sudan. So, was he the first black Christian? The infant Church was undergoing its first serious persecution in the Holy Land. Result: a fulfillment of Christ’s mission to all people of different races and creeds.
This first reading, along with the psalm response and Gospel of the Mass, should generate in us a spirit of hope and joy, a faith-filled anecdote to what we read in today’s newspapers and see on the media.
Resolve: I shall spend some time today asking the Holy Spirit to fill all his followers with the same graces he bestowed upon Philip and the Ethiopian official described in the first reading of today’s Mass.