Corinth was a great spot for a tent-maker, like Paul, to base their business. It was a busy port. The Isthmus of Corinth was a narrow stretch of land that today has a canal through it. In Paul’s time boats would be put on log rollers and pushed the three or so miles from one… Read More »

Paul in going to Athens was entering the seat of learning in the ancient world — Oxford and Harvard rolled into one. While there he proceeded to preach the gospel using categories of philosophy, reason, literature, etc. “You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious.” The mission was not successful. His… Read More »

Early in the Book of Acts there is a story of Peter escaping from prison as the doors are miraculously opened. Several chapters later, Paul and Silas in prison have a similar experience of the doors opening but they do not escape. Paul tells the jailor,  “Do no harm to yourself; we are all here.”… Read More »

St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles makes the decision of St. Paul to begin a mission in Europe a big deal. His first European convert is a successful business woman, Lydia. Her position in the community made her the natural leader for the fledging group of Christians. She was not merely offering hospitality… Read More »

At every Mass we recall that one of the great promises of Jesus is the gift of peace. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.” We then pass the peace as a sign that we as Christians are people of peace. That’s the theory. However, as we heard in the first… Read More »

The Acts of the Apostles are written some forty years after the events they report. In hindsight St. Luke observes: They had been prevented by the Holy Spirit from preaching the message in the province of Asia. That led Paul and companions to inaugurate the mission to Europe. My guess is that at the time… Read More »

In the report of the so-called Council of Jerusalem one line stood out: ‘It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities” which St. Luke says includes avoiding meat sacrified to idols and unlawful marriage. When St. Paul, writing thirty years earlier,  talks… Read More »

Last Sunday we read from John 13: “I give you a new commandment: love one another.” In the next chapter of John’s Gospel we are given to understand what makes that possible: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you.” It is because we are loved that we can in turn love another.… Read More »

Jesus reminds us that pruning is part of the process of being his disciples. We must cut off what is not essential in order to promote growth. We experience the need for pruning in the Church because we tend to make essential to the gospel things which are merely cultural. Right at the beginning the… Read More »

On the first missionary journey St. Paul traveled along what is now the southern part of Turkey. At many of the stopping places he suffered abuse of one form or another. You might think having reached the end of the journey he would take a ship back home. But Paul, instead, retraces his steps through… Read More »