Tuesday, Easter Wk 5: "They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead."

After they had proclaimed the good news to that city and made a considerable number of disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.They strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying, "It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God."They appointed presbyters for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord in whom they had put their faith.

-- Acts 14:19-28

The Holy Spirit makes us discern between trials, which are necessary for the growth of the inner man, and temptation, which leads to sin and death. We must also discern between being tempted and consenting to temptation. Finally, discernment unmasks the lie of temptation, whose object appears to be good, a "delight to the eyes" and desirable, when in reality its fruit is death.

God does not want to impose the good, but wants free beings. . . . There is a certain usefulness to temptation. No one but God knows what our soul has received from him, not even we ourselves. But temptation reveals it in order to teach us to know ourselves, and in this way we discover our evil inclinations and are obliged to give thanks for the goods that temptation has revealed to us.

-- CCC 2847

Saints of God

• Florian
• Gotthard of Hildesheim
• Judas Cyriacus
• Monica of Hippo
• Sacerdos of Limoges
• Venerius of Milan

pray for us.