The Rest of the Story

Years ago there was a piece on NPR all the time called The Rest of the Story.  Paul Harvey would tell you the story, and put a twist on it at the end when your knew the other details.   That might be what we could call the Acts of the Apostles reading today.  We need to know the rest of the story.

What we hear is Paul and Silas being beaten and put in jail, then the earthquake and the jailer and his family being converted.  At the beginning of the story, it's Paul and Silas walking through the town and this woman beseeching them.  She was possessed by a spirit and eventually Paul drew the spirit out.    Well the parents of the woman were furious because they made a fortune with this woman who told fortunes.  When the spirit was gone she wasn't able to do it anymore.  They denounced Paul and Silas saying they were unsympathetic to the Romans and that's why they were jailed.

At the other end of the story, one might wonder why didn't the jailer get in trouble for having released them?  The magistrate learned afterwards that Paul was a Roman citizen and they could get in deep trouble for having beaten a Roman citizen without due process.  They had already sent word to release Paul and Silas so everything worked out in the end.

I'm wondering if you and I might benefit from giving people the benefit of having more to the story than we see; that we make a judgement on what we have seen and we really ought to know the rest of the story that might change our judgement, our opinion, of what the other is doing or has done.

Monsignor Daniel Hoye