Acts 16:22-34 / John 16:5-11
There are many movies about people who were wrongly accused and they had to go through the turmoil of being arrested, thrown into prison, but later they escaped and much later they were exonerated.
Movies like "The Fugitive" and maybe "Shawshank Redemption" have this particular theme.
The 1st reading also has a bit of this theme, as Paul and Silas were flogged and thrown into prison, not for any wrong-doing, but because of the hostility against them.
But it was in that prison that something supernatural happened as they were praying and singing God's praises. There was a strong earthquake, the doors flew open, and the chains fell from all the prisoners.
It was quite obvious that God was intervening for His messengers.
It was also like what Jesus said in the gospel about what the Holy Spirit will do to show the world how wrong it was about sin, about who is in the right, and about judgement.
Our share of turmoil may not be as dramatic as that of Paul and Silas.
And when wrong is done to us, or when we are wrongly accused, our instinct may be that of retaliation.
But an eye-for-an-eye and a tooth-for-a-tooth mentality has never brought about any good.
Let us follow what Paul and Silas did. Let us keep praying and singing God's praises. That will bring about an intervention of the Holy Spirit that will bring about God's judgement.