Friday May 29, 2020
Acts of the Apostles - Conclusion
Netflix doesn’t have a monopoly on serial stories. Luke-Acts is a serial story with episode 1 being the Gospel of Luke wrote and episode 2 being Acts. And guess what? We are episode 3. We are part of the unfolding story of God’s presence and power with us in Jesus and the Holy Spirit. If Jesus began the story and the Apostles continued it, then it is our privilege to bring it forward. That’s why we were baptized and confirmed. Jesus was sent to Galilee. The believers in Acts were sent from Jerusalem to the “ends of the earth.” You and I have been sent to Toronto, to our homes, our work, our schools, our family, our friends, and even those who are enemies. We are sent with the power of the Spirit to continue to bear witness to all that Jesus did, and does, and will do.
Our third episode of the series has its ups and down- just as episode 1 and 2 did. The story doesn’t always flow smoothly, does it? There are successes and seeming setbacks. But looking closely at episodes 1 + 2, we see that God always had things in hand; even setbacks He turned into progress. Episode 3 is no different. God is with us. As episode 1 concluded, Jesus passed the baton to the Apostles (Lk 24, 48). Luke wrote Acts around 85 AD. Although the conclusion of Acts tells the story of Paul preaching in Rome, the first readers of the story knew (and we know) that Paul was martyred around the year 64 AD. In other words, the baton had already passed on to the first generation of readers, through the centuries and has been handed to us. In the power of the Holy Spirit we continue to spread the Good News, we continue the ministry of Jesus, we continue to be a sign of hope, a sign of challenge, a sign of God’s love to the world in which we live. What a responsibility; what a privilege. How highly God must think of us and how much God must love us to entrust such a wonderful treasure into our hands.
Something to consider:
In our Catholic tradition, we believe that bishops are successors to the Apostles. But what about us? Have we ever thought of Baptism and Confirmation as Sacraments of mission, drawing us into the life of God and sending us out (that’s what “apostle” means) to witness to that life? In prayer, give some time to that thought.
Homework: None. Take the evening off.
Thanks for going on this journey through the Amazing Acts of the Apostles. You’ve been great travelling companions.
Fr. Dennis
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WE’RE ON A ROLL. LET’S CONTINUE OUR PRAYERFUL EXPLORATIONS OF BIBLE BOOKS. WE LEFT OFF WITH PAUL IN PRISON IN ROME. WE’LL PICK UP WITH THE FIRST LETTER THAT HE WROTE, THE FIRST LETTER TO THE THESSALONIANS. SAME SCHEDULE (MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY). ARE YOU ON BOARD?
PILGRIMAGES THROUGH PAUL
1 THESSALONIANS
BEGINNING MONDAY, JUNE 1
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