The Midnight Song: Freedom in the Prison

Voice over by Angeline Chue Chue

Acts 16:22-34, Psalm: 137, Jn 16:5-11

Blessed Alvaro del Portillo, bishop

My dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

On this Memorial of Blessed Álvaro del Portillo, a faithful son of Saint Josemaría Escrivá and a bishop who lived holiness in the ordinary, the Church presents us with a scene of extraordinary grace. Paul and Silas, beaten and chained in a dark prison, sing hymns at midnight. Then, an earthquake, open doors, and a jailer falling at their feet. This is not a story from a distant past; it is a promise for every soul imprisoned by fear, sin, or despair.

In the Acts of the Apostles, Paul and Silas have been stripped, beaten with rods, and thrown into the inner prison, their feet fastened in stocks. By any human measure, they are defeated. But at midnight, they pray and sing hymns to God. Their chains are not yet broken, but their spirits are free. Then God acts. An earthquake shakes the foundations, all the doors fly open, and everyone’s chains are unfastened. The jailer, waking to see the open doors, prepares to kill himself. Paul cries out, “Do yourself no harm; we are all here.” The jailer, trembling, asks, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” The answer: “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.” He washes their wounds and is baptized, rejoicing that he had come to faith in God.

This is the power of witness. Paul and Silas did not preach in the prison; they sang. Their joy in suffering became the seed of salvation. The earthquake opened the doors, but their forgiveness kept the jailer from despair. The chains fell, but their presence remained.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus speaks of another kind of conviction. He tells His disciples, “I am going to the Father, and you will see me no longer… It is better for you that I go, for if I do not go, the Advocate will not come.” The Spirit will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Sin, because the world did not believe in Jesus. Righteousness, because Jesus goes to the Father. Judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. The Spirit’s work is not to condemn, but to convict—to open the eyes of the blind, to loosen the chains of unbelief.

Blessed Álvaro del Portillo lived this truth. He was a man of ordinary duties—engineer, priest, bishop—who found God in the midst of work. He faced trials with the midnight song of faith. He once said, “Holiness is not reserved for a few privileged souls; it is offered to everyone.” He knew that the Spirit convicts us not to crush us, but to set us free.

Pope Francis reminds us, “The joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus.” Saint John Paul II called Blessed Álvaro a “faithful witness” to the call to holiness in daily life.

This Easter season, what chains bind you? Fear? Resentment? Shame? Sing at midnight. Pray in the darkness. For the Lord who shook the prison is still shaking the world. And when the earthquake comes—when grace breaks through—do not run away. Stay. Forgive. Witness. The jailer found salvation because Paul stayed. And you, by staying, may become the reason someone asks, “What must I do to be saved?” Amen.

May God bless you all!