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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 a Christian community in Ephesus, which he helped to establish. Now the time of his departure is at hand; it has been revealed to him in prayer that he must leave for Jerusalem, revealing Paul’s responsiveness to the Spirit.
“What will happen to me there,” he says, “I do not know.”
While this community was heartbroken by his departure, it was a blessing in disguise – at least for us Christians today.
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Paul was always a man on the go. He’d establish one community, then depart for another. In his absence, he wrote at least fourteen pastoral letters, encouraging these early Christians to remain steadfast in their faith.
These letters, along with the Acts of the Apostles, form almost half of the New Testament.
So, what do Paul’s words reveal about the early Church? And what was some of his parting advice?
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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 also given to Paul, who ordained priests through the laying on of hands.
With every departure, Paul warned these communities that “savage wolves” – false preachers – would come among them, unraveling some of his hard fought teaching. But they were encouraged to remain faithful to his teachings – as we all are today.
Finally, Paul lived a life of surrender – freely accepting whatever happened to him: rejection, imprisonment, even death, which he will receive upon arriving in Rome.
In spite of any trial he faced, everything Paul did was for the glory of God.
May his courageous spirit spurn us on to continue God’s work today.
Saint Paul, pray for us.
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Image credits: (1) National Geographic (2) Harbor Scene with Saint Paul’s Departure from Caesaria, Jan Brueghel the Elder (3) Enjoying Christ, www.agodman.com