Commemoration of the Apparition of the Sign of the Precious Cross over Jerusalem in 351 AD; Martyr Acacius the Centurion at Byzantium (303); Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem

Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand, and made his defense.

¹²“Whereupon as I traveled to Damascus with the authority and commission from the chief priests, ¹³at noon, O king, I saw on the way a light from the sky, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who traveled with me. ¹⁴When we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

¹⁵“I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶But arise, and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will reveal to you; ¹⁷delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you, ¹⁸to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

¹⁹“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, ²⁰but declared first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.

Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him.”

²⁸They said therefore to him, “What must we do, that we may work the works of God?”

²⁹Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

³⁰They said therefore to him, “What then do you do for a sign, that we may see and believe you? What work do you do? ³¹Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness. As it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’”

³²Jesus therefore said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, it wasn’t Moses who gave you the bread out of heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread out of heaven. ³³For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.”