Reading Francis

What are you filled with?

During the Easter season, the Church uses passages of the Acts of the Apostles instead of the Old Testament for the first reading at Mass, which I love, because it’s my favorite book (even if the mass readings skip over the best parts of the book).

I noticed something new (to me) last Wednesday, and I think it leads to a good question for us today. 

What are you filled with?

Acts is among other things a recurring showdown between the religious authorities and insurgent Christians. Last Wednesday, the authorities were described as “filled with jealousy”, jealousy that sparked them to action. It struck me because often in Acts, the author says this or that hero is “filled with the Holy Spirit”, and so, prompted into action: Peter or Stephen or Paul or whoever preaches (and often gets attacked, sometimes physically), because they were so filled by the Holy Spirit that they just had to act. Conversely the religious authorities are so “filled with jealousy” or sometimes “filled with rage” that they just have to act. Usually they have to attack out of their jealousy or rage. 

So what are you filled by? 

What emotion or fixation so fills you that you just have to do something about it?

You can be filled with fear or joy, jealousy or love, anger or peace, self-righteousness or … can you be filled with humility? Filled with gratitude or awe, how about?

Maybe the exercise this week is to reflect on what’s filling you so much that you have to act, and whether that which fills you is making you a better or worse version of yourself.