Acts 16:6-10. Paul and Timothy are on their evangelical travels, but have been "forbidden by the Holy Spirit to spread the word in Asia." They attempt to go into Bithynia "but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them;" so they go down to Troas. There Paul has a vision in the night of a Macedonian man beseeching him to "come over to Macedonia and help us." So Paul concludes that God is calling them to Macedonia, and he and his companions immediately seek to go there.

First, how amazing that Paul is getting such very clear messages from God! The Holy Spirit forbids him from going to one place, prohibits him from another, and finally sends him by a vision to Macedonia. A few years ago I was struggling mightily with trying to figure out God's will for me in a particular situation. I was "of two minds" and went back and forth, stuck in indecision. God, as He always does, sent me an answer by putting Saint Ignatius of Loyola in my path. When I learned about his rules for discernment, I devoured them and began trying to put them into practice. As I did so, I truly began to hear God's voice, it was and is amazing. I came to understand that He is always guiding us, but we (or at least I) just seem to have forgotten how to listen to Him. Lately, His voice has become clearer and clearer to me, to the point of actually having occasional visions and hearing His prohibitions, warnings, and encouragements very clearly in my heart.

The Holy Spirit was being poured out on the disciples in the early Church, so it is not surprising that Paul was receiving these explicit messages. I believe that the Holy Spirit is being poured out again in abundance now, as the Church and the world face this massive spiritual battle, so it is not surprising that I and others are receiving explicit messages. But I wonder if the Holy Spirit is always speaking to us this way, and we are deaf and blind to Him when we are too comfortable in the world? I think maybe that might have been the case for me. I wasn't trying to cut out the worldly distractions and listen to God, so I did not hear Him. How much I missed!

Secondly, in the last line of this reading, the narration switches to the first person. "And when he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia." It really took me by surprise! I know that Luke wrote Acts, so has Luke joined Paul at this point? ... I just looked it up, and yes, this is where Luke joined Paul - in Troas before the mission to Macedonia. It is so cool to learn these things!