Saturday May 10, 2025

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As a result of what Jesus said, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer walked with him. Jesus then said to the Twelve Apostles, “Do you want to leave me, too?” (John 6:66-67)

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Good News Reflection for:

Saturday of the Third Week of Easter
May 10, 2025

Today’s Readings:

Acts 9:31-42
Ps 116:12-17
John 6:60-69
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051025.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/daily-mass-reading-podcast-may-10-2025

Inviting lost souls back to faith

Which relationships need to be resurrected? Who has been running away from you because they are running away from Jesus?

I think all faith-filled Catholics have loved ones who’ve left the Faith. When we follow Christ, if we go far enough to be noticeably Christian in today’s corrupted world, we lose people who are dear to us.

The good news is: Jesus gave us his Holy Spirit so that we can rise above the bad news and know how and when to demonstrate the power of God so that lost souls are converted by it. When enough of us are activated by the Holy Spirit, together we are a mighty army victoriously defeating evil. And thus, the Holy Spirit changes the world.

The challenging news is: The Holy Spirit changes the world through us — through people who are empowered by a personal relationship with the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. Are you ready to be available for this?

Pray whole-heartedly: “Yes, I will let the Holy Spirit change the world through me!” And: “Come Holy Spirit, You have my permission to change me so that Christ can work more effectively through me!”

Liturgically, we’re in the time of year when the readings of Mass make it very clear what normal Christian living is supposed to look like. Let’s take it seriously — because Satan does not want us to. For example, in this Saturday’s reading from the Book of Acts, Peter raises Dorcas from the dead. End result: Many lost souls came to believe in the Lord. Do we think that God no longer wants to demonstrate his power this way? Do we think we can evangelize today’s world without supernatural evidence that God is real?

I believe that Satan’s #1 strategy in today’s world is the disempowering of Christians so that many do not come to believe in the Lord. He accomplishes this by convincing us Christians that the only thing Jesus asks of us is to be nice. Forget raising people from the dead! It won’t work. So just be nice.

We — individually and as a Church — need to repent of this lie. We need to pray daily: “Lord, I do believe; help my unbelief!” We need to ask for the full anointing of the Holy Spirit: “Come, Holy Spirit, and renew the face of the Earth!” And keep asking until it changes us.

Faith is contagious. Until we — the body of Christ on Earth, as a community of believers — are fully activated in the Holy Spirit like the first Christians were, we cannot expect (or even hope for) the massive conversion of unbelievers like the first Christians saw. By surrounding ourselves with Spirit-filled people, we grow in faith. And this leads to the conversion of others.

For prayers to use for sons and daughters, visit gnm.org/prayers/prayers-for-parents.

For more on the Holy Spirit, visit wordbytes.org/holy-spirit.

© 2025 by Terry A. Modica

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