Compelled by the Spirit (Acts 20-21)

"But now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem. What will happen to me there I do not know, except that in one city after another the holy Spirit has been warning me that imprisonment and hardships await me. Yet I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the gospel of God’s grace. But now I know that none of you to whom I preached the kingdom during my travels will ever see my face again." (Acts 20:22-25)

After being met mainly with indifference in Athens, Paul continues his missionary journey through Greece and Asia Minor, gaining both new converts and fresh enemies in cities like Corinth and Ephesus. He eventually feels called by the Holy Spirit to return to Jerusalem, even as the Holy Spirit warns him that doing so will lead to hardships and imprisonment. He goes so far as to tell the Ephesians, in his dramatic farewell address to them, that he will not see their faces again. As he travels to Jerusalem, he is warned twice, by those led by the Spirit, that his journey there will end with his arrest. Luke writes, "When we heard this, we and the local residents begged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul replied, 'What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? I am prepared not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.' Since he would not be dissuaded we let the matter rest, saying, 'The Lord’s will be done'" (Acts 21:12-14).

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul wrote, "I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:19-20). Paul was willing to share in Christ's sufferings and surrender entirely to the Lord's will. We see him living this out in Acts, where he describes himself as "compelled" by the Holy Spirit to travel to Jerusalem. While Paul may not know what exactly will happen to him there, the Holy Spirit gives him ample warning that many hardships are in store for him. But Paul has devoted himself entirely to spreading the gospel message so that many souls may be saved. He trusts that wherever the Holy Spirit is leading him and whatever might happen to him, it is for the glory of God and for the salvation of many souls - more souls than would be saved if Paul tried to figure things out on his own. 
Paul was promptly arrested in Jerusalem, as the Holy Spirit had revealed. His missionary journeys were at an end. He would spend his remaining years confined to varying degrees, before his martyrdom in or shortly after 64 AD. Yet through his story recounted in Acts and his letters preserved in Sacred Scripture, he continues to share the Good News today and until Christ comes again in glory. May we all follow the example of Saint Paul and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us where He will for the greater glory of God.

Saint Paul, pray for us. 

Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet every day for the salvation of souls.