Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Acts: 22.30 – 23.6:-11

Wishing to determine the truth
about why Paul was being accused by the Jews,
the commander freed him
and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to convene.
Then he brought Paul down and made him stand before them.

Paul was aware that some were Sadducees and some Pharisees,
so he called out before the Sanhedrin,
“My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees;
I am on trial for hope in the resurrection of the dead.”
When he said this,
a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees,
and the group became divided.
For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection
or angels or spirits,
while the Pharisees acknowledge all three.
A great uproar occurred,
and some scribes belonging to the Pharisee party
stood up and sharply argued,
“We find nothing wrong with this man.
Suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”
The dispute was so serious that the commander,
afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them,
ordered his troops to go down and rescue Paul from their midst
and take him into the compound.
The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage.
For just as you have borne witness to my cause in Jerusalem,
so you must also bear witness in Rome.”

The Word of the Lord.

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Saint Paul has been preaching inside the Temple in Jerusalem, angering mobs of Jews who believe he’s trying to nullify their religion. But he insists that Christ does not invalidate, rather he fulfills the Law and the prophets.

In their rage, the mobs shout, wave their garments, and throw dust in the air in protest, calling for Paul’s execution. While standing trial, he realizes that his death is likely. So, he makes one claim in self-defense:

I am a Roman citizen.

It was considered reprehensible – if not punishable by law – to strike a Roman citizen, and Paul knew this was his way out. What matters is not the fact that he saved his life that day; it’s why he did it.

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Paul was not afraid to die… nor was he afraid to live. 

As he says in his Letter to the Philippians, “For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me… [Yet] I long to depart this life and be with Christ, for that is far better. I remain in the flesh for your benefit” (Phil. 1:21-24).

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His words leave us several points to contemplate.

Although Paul knew that his time would come – and almost certainly as a result of preaching the Gospel – he refused to facilitate an early death or to take his life for granted. 

Every second he had on this earth was a gift – and he intended to use his time well. 

However, he also understood that his time was best spent, not working for personal gain, but in spending himself for the sake of others. Even those who despised and rejected him were worthy of his time as he sought to convert them through love.

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How do we spend our own time here on earth?

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Like Paul, may we use the time we have well – not for personal gain, but for the glory of God – who alone removes the yoke of time and grants eternal life.

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Image credits: (1) ArtPal (2) Saint Paul Delivering the Aeropagus Sermon, Raphael (3) Time and Date

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Acts: 20:28-38

At Miletus, Paul spoke to the presbyters of the Church of Ephesus:
“Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock
of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers,
in which you tend the Church of God
that he acquired with his own Blood.
I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you,
and they will not spare the flock.
And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth
to draw the disciples away after them.
So be vigilant and remember that for three years, night and day,
I unceasingly admonished each of you with tears.
And now I commend you to God
and to that gracious word of his that can build you up
and give you the inheritance among all who are consecrated.
I have never wanted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.
You know well that these very hands
have served my needs and my companions.
In every way I have shown you that by hard work of that sort
we must help the weak,
and keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said,
‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

When he had finished speaking
he knelt down and prayed with them all.
They were all weeping loudly
as they threw their arms around Paul and kissed him,
for they were deeply distressed that he had said
that they would never see his face again.
Then they escorted him to the ship.

The Word of the Lord.

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“They threw their arms around Paul and kissed him…They were deeply distressed, because they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship.”

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For the last three years, Paul has been living with the Christian community in Ephesus, which he helped to establish. However, the Spirit has revealed to him in prayer that now he must leave for Jerusalem. “What will happen to me there,” he says, “I do not know.”

While Paul’s departure was difficult for everyone, his willingness to be on the move reveals his docility to the Spirit.

Interestingly, this was part of what inspired the compilation of the New Testament – absence.

Just as Paul used his pastoral letters to fill his absence, encouraging his Christian brothers and sisters, so Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote their Gospels to encourage believers as they awaited Christ’s return.

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What do Paul’s letters and advice reveal about the early Church? 

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From the beginning, there was the handing on of apostolic authority, which the Catholic Church has continued for 100 generations. This power was given to Paul, who writes about ordaining priests like Timothy through prayer and the laying on of his hands.

With every departure, Paul warned Christians that false preachers, or “savage wolves,” would arise in their midst, twisting the truth for the sake of personal benefit. 

But the faithful were to remain steadfast to Paul’s teachings, not being misled – just as Catholics are encouraged to listen to our shepherd, Pope Leo, today.

Finally, Paul lived a life of surrender to the Spirit, allowing nothing to shake his faith. He understood that neither absence, nor mistreatment, nor rejection, nor imprisonment, nor death could separate him from the love of God.

May Paul’s courageous spirit spurn us onward as we continue doing what he did – serving others for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

Saint Paul, pray for us.

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Image credits: (1) Winnie the Pooh, Pinterest (2) View of a City along a River, Jan Brueghel the Elder (3) Rick Warren, QuoteFancy

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Gospel: John 17: 1-11

Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said,
“Father, the hour has come.
Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you,
just as you gave him authority over all people,
so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him.
Now this is eternal life,
that they should know you, the only true God,
and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
I glorified you on earth
by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do.
Now glorify me, Father, with you,
with the glory that I had with you before the world began.

“I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world.
They belonged to you, and you gave them to me,
and they have kept your word.
Now they know that everything you gave me is from you,
because the words you gave to me I have given to them,
and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you,
and they have believed that you sent me.
I pray for them.
I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me,
because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours
and everything of yours is mine,
and I have been glorified in them.
And now I will no longer be in the world,
but they are in the world, while I am coming to you.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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One of the most popular Catholic Saints is Francis of Assisi. He had a unique love of nature, a kindred spirit, and he received a call from God that would define his life, “Rebuild my Church.” 

Tradition tells us that Francis literally stripped himself bare before his bishop in the public square to demonstrate how serious he was about leaving a life of inherited wealth and privilege behind.

Perhaps his greatest contribution to the Church was founding a religious movement known as the Franciscans, an order of both men and women who pledge a life of poverty, chastity, and obedience to the Lord and his Church. 

The Franciscans have been doing God’s work in this world for the last 800 years.

While lying on his deathbed at the tender age of 45, Saint Francis was surrounded by the men who became the first Franciscans. And he said to them, “My brothers, I have done what was mine to do. Now you must do what is yours to do.”

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In today’s Gospel, we continue with Jesus’ farewell discourse in which he not only prepares his disciples for his departure, but he also prays to his Father in gratitude. “Father, I glorified you on earth by accomplishing everything that you gave me to do.”

That’s something perhaps we all hope to say when our time comes – we have accomplished everything that God has given us to do.

Like Jesus and Francis, how do we know what is “ours” to do in life? And when will we know we’ve done it all?

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Perhaps it’s not a question we can answer in terms of marking off a checklist. Rather, it’s a matter of the heart, a question we might answer at the end of each day.

Perhaps we can ask ourselves, “Have I come to faith? Have I loved God with all of my heart and my neighbor as myself? Do I bear any unresolved tension in my heart or am I at peace?”

That, I believe, is the mark of a life well prepared for the next – a soul at peace. May God give us the grace to do what is “ours” to do today.

Above all, to be a soul at peace.

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Image credits: (1) Saint Jerome, QuoteFancy (2) Francis of Assisi, Philip Fruytiers (3) Third Heaven Discourse, Blogspot