Acts 27:11-16. Paul and the others who have been shipwrecked on their way to Rome finally set sail from the island of Malta after wintering there for three months. The ship they board is from Alexandria, with the Twin Brothers as figurehead. They make several stops on the journey, one at Puteoli, where they find some brethren and are invited to stay with them for seven days. When they come to Rome, the brethren there come to meet Paul. "On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage." In Rome, Paul is allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who guards him.

How wonderful that the brethren came to see Paul when he arrived in Rome and gave him courage! Paul was an extremely important person in the early Church. He and Peter are the most important of the early Church fathers, and we can see from this that the early Christians knew or sensed this.

The Church always has her important people who the flock looks up to and seeks out for wisdom and guidance. I can think of several examples in the Church today. What if one of these people, even the Pope, was being falsely accused of something and held a prisoner? Would we be as supportive as these early Christians were? Would we go out of our way to try to be with him or support him in any way we could, giving him courage?

I think we often don't realize the impact we can have in even the smallest acts of support and charity. Famous people can seem so distant, and we can easily convince ourselves they don't need anything from us, we would just be bothering them, they have all the support and protection they need, etc. But they are people too, they need love and support, especially in their darkest times, just as everyone else does.

I'm going to try to use these early Christians as an example and make a point of remembering how important my smallest act of kindness can be. Instead of talking myself out of sending a note or making a call to someone who is in a bad place, I will try to go out on a limb and do it, even if I don't know them that well. It can't hurt, and it may contribute to giving them courage in a bad situation.