5/18/2012 – Pope John I – Friday of 6th week of Easter – Psalm 47:2-7; Acts 18:9-18

        Paul has a vision from God, telling him not to afraid of the people of Corinth where he is preaching.  God tells Paul that he will be protected, that he will not be harmed, that God has many holy people in that city.  We all would probably love to have that message from God, especially in a modern world that seems so against us and that sees us in a negative light in so many ways.  I bet the saint we celebrate today wished that he could receive that same protection from God.  John was the pope during the early 6th century, a time in which Arianism was very popular, in which the divinity of Christ was denied in many ways. Arianism taught that Jesus was subordinated to the Father and was created by him, that Jesus did not exist from the beginning of time. The emperor was an Arian, and had John imprisoned, from which he died from the poor treatment he received as a prisoner.  But, in our first reading, even though Paul received reassurances from God, we see that he was persecuted by many of the citizens there and that he had much opposition.  In fact, it is estimated that Paul himself spent at least 3 years in prison for preaching the word of God in different places.  As we near the end of our Easter season, as we hear from the Acts of the Apostles all of the struggles that Paul and the early Church endured, may we take heart as we continue on our own journey of faith.  As the psalmist tells us today: “God is king of all the earth.”  May we continue to recognize God as our king and as the only one whom we ultimately follow in our lives.