Category: Uncategorized

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Acts: 18: 9-18

One night while Paul was in Corinth, the Lord said to him in a vision,
“Do not be afraid.
Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you.
No one will attack and harm you,
for I have many people in this city.”
He settled there for a year and a half
and taught the word of God among them.

But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia,
the Jews rose up together against Paul
and brought him to the tribunal, saying,
“This man is inducing people to worship God contrary to the law.”
When Paul was about to reply, Gallio spoke to the Jews,
“If it were a matter of some crime or malicious fraud,
I should with reason hear the complaint of you Jews;
but since it is a question of arguments over doctrine and titles
and your own law, see to it yourselves.
I do not wish to be a judge of such matters.”
And he drove them away from the tribunal.
They all seized Sosthenes, the synagogue official,
and beat him in full view of the tribunal.
But none of this was of concern to Gallio.

Paul remained for quite some time,
and after saying farewell to the brothers he sailed for Syria,
together with Priscilla and Aquila.
At Cenchreae he had shaved his head because he had taken a vow.

The Word of the Lord.

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“Paul sailed for Syria, together with Priscilla and Aquila.”

In our first reading, Paul is on the move again. He’s been preaching the Gospel across Greece, Syria, even as far as Asia.  

Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, Luke, Priscilla and Aquila — are just a few of the people who accompanied him on his journeys. 

Imagine how much harder Paul’s life would have been if he had to preach the Gospel without these companions. Those sleepless nights on ships, in tents, in a stranger’s home, even in prison, could have been terribly lonesome otherwise. 

Paul understood an important lesson in ministry: friends are essential.

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True friends support us; they listen to our struggles, they pray for us; and stick by our side through the good and difficult times. 

Do I have that type of friend? Is the Lord calling me to be that kind of friend for another?

As it’s written in the Book of Sirach: “Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter. Whoever finds one finds a treasure. Faithful friends are beyond price; no amount can balance their worth.”

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May Paul and his companions, pray for us.

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Image credits: (1) First Church Coral Springs (2) Mission Bible Class (3) Pinterest

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Gospel: John 16: 16-20

Jesus said to his disciples:
“A little while and you will no longer see me,
and again a little while later and you will see me.”
So some of his disciples said to one another,
“What does this mean that he is saying to us,
‘A little while and you will not see me,
and again a little while and you will see me,’
and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”
So they said, “What is this ‘little while’ of which he speaks?
We do not know what he means.”
Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them,
“Are you discussing with one another what I said,
‘A little while and you will not see me,
and again a little while and you will see me’?
Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices;
you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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I’m we all know the story of Cinderella. There’s something incredibly Christian about it, as one of the major themes is the reversal of fortunes.

In the beginning, Cinderella is held prisoner in her own home. Her evil stepsisters force her to scrub the floors, to wash their clothes, to make their beds, and to serve them dinner. But, in the end, Cinderella’s fortune is reversed. 

She becomes a princess.

That’s the type of story anyone can root for, when the poor become rich, the underdog wins, a servant becomes a princess.

Cinderella’s evil stepsisters also experience a reversal of their fortune. After Cinderella becomes a princess, they are forced out of her home, ending up with nothing.

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This same idea is at the heart of our Christian faith.

In the Gospel, Jesus has reached the final night of his life on earth. He’s done nothing but good; he’s healed the sick, forgiven sinners, even raised Lazarus from the dead. But hours from now he’ll be nailed to a tree. 

Jesus promises his disciples, his fortune will be reversed. Three days later, he’ll rise from the dead. Then he promises his followers the same blessing if they remain faithful to his teachings.

Jesus instructs his disciples to forgive their enemies; to turn the other cheek; to serve their neighbor; to share blessings; and to pray for those who persecute them.

“You will weep and mourn while the world rejoices,” Jesus says. “You will grieve, but your grief will become joy.”

Your fortune will be reversed.

So, embrace whatever life has in store for you today with joy, knowing our best days are ahead.

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Image credits: (1) Ivanrest Church (2) Cinderella, Disney Inc. (3) Lake Park Lutheran church

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Acts: 17:15-22 – 18:1

After Paul’s escorts had taken him to Athens,
they came away with instructions for Silas and Timothy
to join him as soon as possible.

Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said:
“You Athenians, I see that in every respect
you are very religious.
For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines,
I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’
What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.
The God who made the world and all that is in it,
the Lord of heaven and earth,
does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands,
nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything.
Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything.
He made from one the whole human race
to dwell on the entire surface of the earth,
and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions,
so that people might seek God,
even perhaps grope for him and find him,
though indeed he is not far from any one of us.
For ‘In him we live and move and have our being,’
as even some of your poets have said,
‘For we too are his offspring.’
Since therefore we are the offspring of God,
we ought not to think that the divinity is like an image
fashioned from gold, silver, or stone by human art and imagination.
God has overlooked the times of ignorance,
but now he demands that all people everywhere repent
because he has established a day on which he will ‘judge the world
with justice’ through a man he has appointed,
and he has provided confirmation for all
by raising him from the dead.”

When they heard about resurrection of the dead,
some began to scoff, but others said,
“We should like to hear you on this some other time.”
And so Paul left them.
But some did join him, and became believers.
Among them were Dionysius,
a member of the Court of the Areopagus,
a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

After this he left Athens and went to Corinth.

The Word of the Lord.

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Athens was one of the most diverse cities in the ancient world. It was a city of intellects – and a city of gods. 

There were so many gods that some used to say, “In Athens, it is easier to meet a god than a person.”

Perhaps you’ve seen the famous temple where the gods were worshiped, the Parthenon, located smack dab in the heart of Athens. There, Greeks could offer sacrifices to any god they wanted, including at the altar to the, “Unknown God.” 

Although the Greeks worshipped gods of the sky, the sea, and even the underworld, they also worshipped an “unknown god,” because they knew they couldn’t box-in the Divine.

God was bigger than they could ever imagine.

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Enter Saint Paul.

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Imagine Paul standing in the shadow of the Parthenon, preaching about Jesus Christ. He is the “Unknown God,” the one through whom everything and everyone was created. 

As he writes in his Letter to the Colossians, “All things were created through him; all things were created for him; he is before all else that is. In him everything continues in being.”

If the Greeks want to worship God in his fullness, Paul says, then they must worship Jesus. Amazingly, some convert, becoming part of that second generation of Christians.

One reason why Paul converted some were because he made logical arguments about his faith, showing the Greeks why it was true… And he did so humbly. 

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Like Saint Paul, how much do I know about my faith? Can I explain why I believe to others?

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Share it with someone today. Who knows, like Saint Paul, you just may lead someone to Christ.

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Image credits: (1) The Writer (2) Forest Park Church of Christ (3) National Catholic Register