Homily: May, 16, 2023, Tuesday of the Sixth week of Easter (Prison-Praise).

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About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God…

This part of the first reading really struck me. Paul and Silas had just been beaten badly with rods and thrown into the innermost cell prison, with their feet chained up. They must be in extreme pain, every inch of their bodies, feeling very uncomfortable being chained up, very hungry and thirsty. Yet they prayed and sang hymns to God.

How many of us can sing while having a bad headache? I can’t even smile.

What was it that kept Paul and Silas, and the other apostles going and glorifying God even when they were tortured, suffering and in great pain?

We live in a society of pain avoidance, we want a painless life, painless religion, painless relationships, painless death. And so we rely on painkillers, we want comfort and minimal struggles.

My papa had cancer, and in his final days, he went through great pain. In India, we do not administer morphine. I was not with my papa when he passed away, but my sister told me that he prayed calmly and unceasingly throughout the night till he died, even though he was in intense pain. He faced his death with faith.

Recently, I read an article about St. Pope John Paul II in which his personal doctor, Renato Buzzonetti, who attended to him from 1978 till his death, shared that the Pope had always refused all kinds of pain medication. Instead, he offered all his pains and suffering to Mary.

The saint Pope said, “Prayer joined to sacrifice constitute the most powerful force in human history.” Thus, we see how Paul and Silas’ prayer and praise amidst suffering brought about the conversion of the jailer and his household.

He also said, “Each man, in his suffering, can also become a sharer in the redemptive suffering of Christ.”

Jesus saved us through his suffering and death, could we also offer our little pain and discomfort for the salvation of another soul? Even if we can't sing out a hymn, we can silently offer them to our Lord on the cross.

That was probably what Paul and Silas, and the apostles had, the conviction to do what Jesus did, to be united with Him in His suffering. Christ lived in them.

The late Pope Benedict XVI said, “The world offers you comfort. But you were not made for comfort, you were made for greatness.” Let us not live for comfort but for Christ. Christ lives in us! Amen.


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