The Memorial of Saint George
Then an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise, and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert."
He arose and went; and behold, there was a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to worship. He was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah.
The Spirit said to Philip, "Go near, and join yourself to this chariot."
Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?"
He said, "How can I, unless someone explains it to me?" He begged Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the Scripture which he was reading was this, "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. As a lamb before his shearer is silent, So he doesn't open his mouth. In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away. Who will declare His generation? For his life is taken from the earth."
The eunuch answered Philip, "Who is the prophet talking about? About himself, or about someone else?"
Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, preached to him about Jesus. As they went on the way, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from being baptized?"
He commanded the chariot to stand still, and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the eunuch didn't see him any more, for he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus. Passing through, he preached the Good News to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.
Praise our God, you peoples! Make the sound of his praise heard, Who preserves our life among the living, And doesn't allow our feet to be moved.
Come and hear, all you who fear God. I will declare what he has done for my soul. I cried to him with my mouth. He was extolled with my tongue.
Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer, Nor his loving kindness from me.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up in the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'They will all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who hears from the Father and has learned, comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except he who is from God. He has seen the Father. Most certainly, I tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.
Saint George, the legendary soldier-martyr who died for his faith in the early fourth century, reminds us that courage often emerges in the most unexpected encounters—much like what unfolds in Philip's desert meeting with the Ethiopian eunuch.
Notice how the Spirit orchestrates this seemingly random roadside encounter. Philip doesn't plan this evangelization moment; he simply responds when God nudges him toward a chariot carrying someone genuinely seeking understanding. The Ethiopian official has traveled hundreds of miles to worship in Jerusalem and now sits puzzling over Isaiah's prophecy about the suffering servant. His honest question—"How can I understand unless someone explains it to me?"—captures something essential about our spiritual journey.
There's a beautiful vulnerability in admitting we need guidance. The eunuch doesn't pretend to grasp everything; he invites Philip to sit beside him and help make sense of what he's reading. This humility opens the door to transformation. Within moments, Philip connects the ancient prophecy to Jesus, and the official's heart burns with recognition.
The movement from confusion to clarity to baptism happens swiftly, yet it feels completely natural. When they encounter water, the eunuch immediately asks, "What prevents me from being baptized?" Nothing—absolutely nothing—stands between a sincere heart and God's grace.
Jesus reminds us in the Gospel that the Father draws people to himself, often through ordinary encounters with others who can explain, encourage, and accompany. We become Philip for someone else when we notice their genuine searching and offer what understanding we've received.
Consider the Ethiopian going on his way rejoicing—transformed by an unexpected conversation that revealed Christ as the bread of life.
Who might be sitting in their own chariot today, wrestling with questions about faith? How might we recognize when the Spirit is orchestrating an encounter that could change everything?