May 8, 2013

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Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter 
Lectionary: 293

Reading 1ACTS 17:15, 22—18:1

Yesterday, the Jews had Sts. Paul ans Silas beaten and put in jail.  There, they saved the jailer.  Now, they go elsewhere, but the Jews are keeping an eye on them and causing commotion everywhere they go.  Therefore, the Church sends St. Paul to Athens and instructs  St. Silas (aka known as Sylvanus) and St. Timothy to follow him.

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.

After they all arrive in Athens, St. Paul begins to preach to the Athenians about all the gods that they worship.  And about the True God.

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 pagan Athenians are so anxious to worship that they even have a throne for an unknown god.  St. Paul tells them that our God is the True God whom they intend to worship.

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,’

This is so beautiful and so true.  It is in God that we live, move and are. 

as even some of your poets have said,
‘For we too are his offspring.’

And He made everything, therefore we are His offspring.  His children.

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.”

And now He has sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to forgive us of our sins and die for us that we might have life in His name.

Some unbelievers in this day and age are quick to grasp at the fact that St. Paul here calls Jesus, a man.  And ti is true that Jesus came to us in the image of man.  But there are many places we can point to where St. Paul also describes Jesus as Lord (Colossians 2:6) and God (Rom 9:5).  They are ALL true.  

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.

Some scoffed when he mentioned the resurrection.  But some also followed him.  There must not have been very many who joined though, because St. Paul did not leave us a letter to the Athenians.

After this he left Athens and went to Corinth.

Then, St. Paul left for Corinth.  And he did write two letters to the people of Corinth.

Responsorial PsalmPS 148:1-2, 11-12, 13, 14

R. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the LORD from the heavens;
praise him in the heights.
Praise him, all you his angels;
praise him, all you his hosts.
R. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let the kings of the earth and all peoples,
the princes and all the judges of the earth,
Young men too, and maidens,
old men and boys.
R. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the name of the LORD,
for his name alone is exalted;
His majesty is above earth and heaven.
R. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has lifted up the horn of his people;
Be this his praise from all his faithful ones,
from the children of Israel, the people close to him.
Alleluia.
R. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Continue to praise God and glorify Him with all that you do.  Remembering always, that obedience is the highest form of praise and a sure way to gain God's favor.

GospelJN 16:12-15

Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
he will guide you to all truth.
He will not speak on his own,
but he will speak what he hears,
and will declare to you the things that are coming.
He will glorify me,
because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
Everything that the Father has is mine;
for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine
and declare it to you.”

We are preparing for the Ascension of the Lord.  After He ascends, soon after, He will send the Holy Spirit to empower the Apostles to preach the Word of God throughout the world.