The Acts of the Apostles describes the rapid growth of the Jesus movement from a tiny sect within Judaism to a phenomenon impacting the entire Roman world — Jews and Gentiles alike. There is another aspect to that story that deserves attention — how the Jesus movement changed the fabric of society itself. St. Paul… Read More »
MAY262019
In 1979 Karl Rahner, the most important theologian of the twentieth century (in my humble opinion) lectured that we are at a completely new moment in the history of the Church. Rahner noted that there are three epochs in the life of the church. The first and shortest period of church history was that of… Read More »
MAY252019
St. Paul was a guy with vision. You can picture him telling his companions his plans. However, often in the Book of Acts we read that his plans were thwarted. “They had been prevented by the Holy Spirit. “The Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.” Thwarted plans were not signs of failure for Paul… Read More »
MAY242019
The early Church was seeking the will of God. They prayed, discussed, debated and eventually came to a decision. Then they promulgated what they had decided. “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us.” We go through a similar process when we seek the will of God. But if you are anything… Read More »
MAY232019
Several things of note in the story about the so-called Council of Jerusalem: First, they were seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit in coming to an important decision. Second, they could only arrive at the decision “after much debate had taken place.” To genuinely hear the Holy Spirit required entering into debate, dialogue, conversation,… Read More »
MAY222019
We have to understand the profound change that occurred among those first followers of Jesus when Gentiles (non-Jews) became Christians. Jesus was a Jew. Mary was a Jew. The Apostles were Jews. Paul was a Jew. The obvious presumption was that the Jesus movement was a Jewish movement. St. Paul and others had to argue… Read More »
MAY212019
Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, Pisidian Antioch, Pamphylia, Perga, Attalia — these cities are in what is now Turkey. Despite their apostolic origins, despite the preaching of St. Paul they have no Christian presence to speak of today. Syrian Antioch, a city that had St. Peter as the first bishop, was under attack during the Civil War… Read More »
MAY202019
The question that the Apostle Jude asked Jesus seems a very legitimate one: “Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” Instead of a straight answer Jesus gives a reflection on the relationship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I wonder if Jude felt frustrated by… Read More »
MAY192019
Probably each of us has a memory similar to this one: little Johnny is sitting at the supper table and both of his parents are getting rather exasperated with him. It seems he won’t eat his vegetables. Now all parents know that part of their job is to do what’s right for their child even… Read More »
MAY182019
Jesus seemed surprised that after all the time the apostles spent with him they did not recognize his true identity. “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” St. Paul did not recognize the presence of Christ in the believers. The heavenly voice made that identification explicit on the road to Damascus. “I am Jesus… Read More »
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