The Areopagus is a hill in central Athens. Looking up you see the Acropolis of the city with the most beautiful buildings. Looking down you see the agora, the city center where the philosophers Socrates and Plato used to walk. St. Paul preached there because he believed the gospel is better than all that culture… Read More »
MAY282019
The readings for each day until Pentecost remind us the presence and action of the Holy Spirit. In the gospels Jesus speaks about the gift of the Spirit. The first reading during the entire fifty days of Easter are from the Acts of the Apostles, the so-called Gospel of the Holy Spirit. The two readings… Read More »
MAY272019
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 »
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