Author: admin

***

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.

***

***

Mark Twain once said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you were born…and the day you know why.”

***

On Sunday, I’ll celebrate my 6^th anniversary as a priest. Each year I’m reminded in a particular way why the Lord created me, to be his servant and to draw others closer to God.

It’s the same reason why he created Saint Paul, whom we listen to in our first reading.

***

Paul’s reached the end of his journey. He’s run the race of life and kept the faith. 

Knowing his death is imminent, he gives a final sermon to the Church in Ephesus, exhorting them to remain faithful to the Gospel he preached. 

He also warns them against false preachers, whom he knows will arise in their midst, against disunity, and spiritual malaise; things we must still be weary of today.

But Paul’s competed well. He’s done his part. Now he entrusts his flock to his successors.

This gesture of handing on the faith has happened over the last two millennia, some 100 generations, which includes us today.

***

The two most important days in your life are the day you were born…and the day you know why.

***

As Christians, we might add a third day to Twain’s famous line: the day you were born, the day you know why…

…and the day you go home.

***

Saint Paul’s done his part to hand on our faith. Now’s he’s heading home, trusting we’ll continue to share the Gospel.

Regardless of who we are, or what roads we travel in life, this is part of the “why” we are here, to share our Christian faith.

How will I do that today?

***

***

Image credits: (1) Quotestolove.com (2) Saint Paul the Apostle, by Giuseppe Franchi (3) Pastor Darryl Baker

***

Acts 20: 17-27

From Miletus Paul had the presbyters
of the Church at Ephesus summoned. 
When they came to him, he addressed them,
“You know how I lived among you
the whole time from the day I first came to the province of Asia.
I served the Lord with all humility
and with the tears and trials that came to me
because of the plots of the Jews,
and I did not at all shrink from telling you
what was for your benefit,
or from teaching you in public or in your homes.
I earnestly bore witness for both Jews and Greeks
to repentance before God and to faith in our Lord Jesus.
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.

The Word of the Lord.

***

***

Often at funerals, a family member or friend offers a eulogy for the deceased, highlighting particular memories or qualities that made that person beloved by others. 

Rarely has someone written his or her own eulogy. 

But, in a sense, that’s what Saint Paul is doing in today’s first reading. Before boarding a ship, he says farewell to his community in Ephesus, saying, “I know that none of you to whom I preached the kingdom during my travels will ever see my face again.”

What a wrenching moment, saying farewell before his death to those whom he loved, something Jesus did just a few decades earlier.

***

In this farewell discourse, Paul says several things about himself.

He spoke fearlessly. He preached to both Jews and Gentiles alike about the resurrection of Christ, often at great personal cost.

He lived independently; Paul worked for the bread he ate.

He was ready and willing to offer his life for the Gospel. “But now, compelled by the Spirit,” he says, “I am going to Jerusalem. What will happen to me there I do not know.”

Eventually, Paul travels from Jerusalem to Rome, where he’s martyred in the year 65 AD. 

***

What Paul says of himself we pray will be said of every Christian: “I fought the good fight. I ran the race to the finish. I kept the faith.” 

May we continue running the race today.

***

***

Images: (1) FuneralWise.com (2) Saint Paul by Bartolomeo Montagna

***

Acts 19:1-8

While Apollos was in Corinth,
Paul traveled through the interior of the country
and down to Ephesus where he found some disciples. 
He said to them,
“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”
They answered him,
“We have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
He said, “How were you baptized?”
They replied, “With the baptism of John.”
Paul then said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance,
telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him,
that is, in Jesus.”
When they heard this,
they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul laid his hands on them,
the Holy Spirit came upon them,
and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
Altogether there were about twelve men.

He entered the synagogue, and for three months debated boldly
with persuasive arguments about the Kingdom of God. 

The Word of the Lord.

***

***

Saint Paul is preaching the Gospel in Ephesus, when suddenly he encounters a group of incomplete Christians.

“We have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit,” they say.

They’re lacking two things: knowledge of God and the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

***

We don’t know the extent of their faith. 

We’re they only followers of John the Baptist, meaning they knew there was a God, and they knew their need to repent? Or did they actually hear of the resurrection and believe?

In any case, Paul recognizes that their experience of Christianity is incomplete. They need the Holy Spirit, so he baptizes them.

***

Although every Christian is baptized, some still have an incomplete experience of God, much like those in our first reading.

Some lack knowledge of Him – how loving, supreme, and merciful he is – while others lack the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  

Christianity only reaches its fulfillment when we experience the fruit of the Spirit, which Saint Paul says is, “joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

***

That is the goal of religion – and the mark of a fully-fledged Christian – to be at peace at with God and at peace with one’s neighbors.

***

***

Image credits: (1) I Lobo You (2) Baptism of Saint Paul, Capella Palatina 1140 (3) BibleInfo.com