Today’s readings present a striking contrast between the Christian’s reality as we experience it now, and how life will be in the heavenly age to come. For now, Jesus says, we should expect there to be trials, troubles, and tribulations of various kinds (Jn. 16). But John’s end-of-the-age vision is of a gathering of believers who appear before God’s throne in splendid beauty and strength – cleansed of all sin! The Holy Spirit abruptly changed Paul’s travel plans, rerouting him through Macedonia instead. But there he met a remarkable woman named Lydia whose faith and generosity would help establish the Church in Philippi (Acts 16).