Yesterday, we heard how Paul and
Barnabas embarked on their first missionary journey which would take them on
their first thousand mile missionary journey.
Today we hear just how St. Paul went about his missionary work.
Upon arriving in a
new town, his method was first to go to one of the local synagogues and bring
the gospel message to the folks who, by heritage, were most entitled to it, his
fellow Jews. After the readings of that Sabbath from the scrolls of the Law and
the prophets, the leader would ask if the visitor had any message for the
congregation. Did he ever!
Today we heard
Paul’s visit to the synagogue in the town of Antioch in Pisidia; this is not
the same Antioch from yesterday’s reading.
Remember they had started in Antioch in modern day northern Syria,
traveled southwest down to Seleucia, then sailed over to the island of Cyprus,
then up to Perga on the southern coast of modern day turkey, which is as far
west as his first journey will take him. Today we heard how he travels up the
river and over what are now Turkey’s Anatolian highlands to a place called
Antioch in Pisidia. You might want to
trace his journey in those handy maps in the backs of your bibles sometime
today, for it was definitely a treacherous route.
So Paul comes to
this synagogue and presents this exhortation to the Jews and others gathered
there, summarizing beautifully the history of the people of Israel—with the
surprise ending that the whole thing had been climaxed by the life, death, and
resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Tomorrow we’ll hear the rest of his
exhortation.
The Jews were pretty
familiar with their own history and the biblical prophecies of the Messiah.
Imagine the surprise when Paul preaches that the Messiah had come, and the sort
of Messiah he turned out to be!
Now Paul had been
educated by the great Rabbi Gamaliel. He knew the law and the prophets of the
Old Testament. Paul was able to preach
and teach his fellow Jews because of his familiarity with God’s Word. For many
of us, we find the Old Testament daunting, and giving a biblical teaching about
Christ may be out of our expertise.
However, St.
Peter wrote: "Should anyone ask you the reason for this hope of yours, be
ever ready to reply". We may not be
able to give an exhortation on the faith as a master’s level biblical
theologian, but each of us should be able to give a clear explanation for why
we are Catholic, why we remain Catholic, why we believe Catholicism to be the
one true faith, where we find strength, and guidance, and the fulfillment of
our hopes in our Catholic faith. And to share that story easily with others.
May we, by knowing our faith and knowing the Scriptures, and
knowing and loving the Lord Jesus, give witness to Him in all of our words,
actions, and decisions this day, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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