“But Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms
around him. ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘He’s alive..!’
The people took the young man home alive, and were greatly comforted’
(Acts 20:10-12).
His name means “fortunate” and he has gone down in history as the young man who fell asleep while Paul preached in Troas. He fell off a third-floor window and died. We are talking about Eutychus, who, “fortunately,” was resurrected.
Paul had spent a week in that city preaching the gospel. On the last night, along with the farewell dinner, he preached his last sermon before continuing his journey. On the top floor of the dwelling, which was full of people, the smoke from the candles that illuminated the room, the poor ventilation, and the prolongation of the meeting caused this boy (who would have been between ten and fourteen years old) to search out the cool breeze by sitting on the edge of the window.
At first glance, we could say that he was a distracted listener in an unbreathable armosphere, dealing with an intense and lenghty program. We might say that this series of factors led to Eutychus to fall from the window into the outer courtyard. We can imagine the confusion among those gathered in the hall: some trying to revive him and others trying to place blame.
Then Paul, interrupting his sermon, descends and falls upon him, just as Elijah had done with the widow’s son and Elisha with Shunammite’s child. The apostle to the Gentiles embraced him and said that he was alive, for he had resurrected. They brought the young man home and were all greatly comforted.
We could say that there are very many distracted Euthychuses, with “one foot inside and the other outside” the church, just as there are many adults who are indifferent, distant, and distracted toward the new generations and what they do. Perhaps our atmospheres are overloaded with candles and the smoke of protocols and ceremonies, without the good ventilation of participation and integration. And could it be that our speeches and programs are intense and lenghty, focused on processes and not people?
This is not the time to look for culprits. It is time to renew our commitment as adults, as parents, and as educators to the new generations. We cannot be distracted and let them hang between life and death on the edge of the window. We cannot offer an atmosphere that is toxic by the lack of coherence, as our disourses ar far removed from our facts.
“Young people need models, not critics” – John Wooden –
Paul is no longer here to resurrect our “Euthycuses,”
but we are “fortunate” because the Worker
of that miracle wants to repeat it.
He just needs to count on you as His instrument.
God bless you, and may He use you mightily as His vessel today….