Paul In Corinth

"After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.  There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, following a decree of the Emperor Claudius which ordered all Jews to leave Rome.  Paul went to visit them and then stayed and worked with them because they shared the same trade of tentmaking.  Every Sabbath he held discussions in the synagogue, trying to convince both Jews and Greeks.

When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was able to give himself wholly to preaching and proving to the Jews that JESUS was the Messiah.  One day when they opposed him and insulted him, he shook the dust from his clothes in protest, saying, 'Your blood be on your own heads!  I am innocent.  I am not to blame if from now on I go to the non-Jews."

So, Paul left there and went to the house of a GOD-fearing man named Titus Justus who lived next door to the synagogue.  A leading man of the synagogue, Crispus, along with his whole household, believed in the LORD.  On hearing Paul, many more Corinthians believed and were baptized." - Acts 18:1-8 

 

(Corinth, the main port of Greece and capital of the province of Achaia with 600,000 inhabitants, of whom 400,000 are slaves, is a religious, commercial and cultural center.  It has countless temples with thousands of prostitutes serving in them.  The city is famous for its luxury and its corruption.  Paul goes there and remains eighteen months - until the end of the year 52.  This date is exact: history tells us that Gallio was governor of Achaia during the year 52.

Aquila and his wife, Priscilla, had just arrived in Corinth.  They were perhaps already Christians, but Jewish Christians were not different from others before the decree of the emperor.

Aquila and Priscilla simply place themselves at Paul's service to help him.  They will assist him on other occasions with the natural availability of people who do not feel tied to any city or country.)

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A Miraculous Deliverance

"So, they set the crowd against them; and the officials tore the clothes off Paul and Silas and ordered them to be flogged.  And after inflicting many blows on them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to guard them safely.  Upon receiving these instructions, he threw them into the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to GOD, and the other prisoners were listening.  Suddenly, a severe earthquake shook the place, rocking the prison to its foundations.  Immediately, all the doors flew open, and the chains of all the prisoners fell off.  The jailer woke up to see the prison gates wide open.  Thinking that the prisoners had escaped, he drew his sword to kill himself, but Paul shouted to him, 'Do not harm yourself!  We are all still here.'

The jailer asked for a light, then rushed in, and fell at the feet of Paul and Silas.  After he had secured the other prisoners, he led them out and asked, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?'  They answered, 'Believe in the LORD JESUS CHRIST and you, and your household, will be saved.'  Then they spoke the word of GOD to him and to all his household.

Even at that hour of the night, the jailer took care of them and washed their wounds; and he, and his whole household, were baptized at once.  He led them to his house, spread a meal before them and joyfully celebrated with his whole household his newfound faith in GOD." - Acts 16:22-34  

(In Roman jails there was a main room and in the center of the pavement a grill closed the opening through which the most dangerous prisoners were thrown into an underground cell.  They throw Paul and Silas there.  They are perfectly free in spite of their chains.  Though they have been beaten and are wounded, they feel like praising GOD.  In the silence of the night, the jailers and the other prisoners listen to them praying and singing hymns.

GOD is also listening.  How many similar episodes, wherever a witness of Christian freedom has been at the risk of one's life and liberty!

We who take the time, and rightly so to prepare for Baptism, might be surprised by this very swift Baptism of a whole family.  It could be said that it was a special case: let us stress also that all this happened in a very different world from our own.)

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The SPIRIT Will Come

"From the FATHER, I will send you the Spirit of truth.  When this Helper has come from the FATHER, HE will be MY witness, and you, too, will be MY witnesses for you have been with ME from the beginning.

I tell you all this to keep you from stumbling and falling away.  They will put you out of the Jewish communities.  Still more, the hour is coming when anyone who kills you will claim to be serving GOD; they will do this because they have not known the FATHER or ME.  I tell you all these things now so that when the time comes you may remember that I told you." - John 15:26-16:4   

(The FATHER, the SON and the HOLY SPIRIT.  In making us children of HIS FATHER, JESUS enables us to discover the intimate mystery of GOD.  In GOD there is communion among the three persons: the FATHER, the SON and THEIR common SPIRIT.

We speak of their common Spirit, because JESUS said both: The FATHER will give you another Helper [14:16] and: The Helper which I will send you [15:26].  Now HE says: He will take what is MINE and tell it to you: everything that the FATHER has is also MINE [16:15]. 

"The Spirit" is not a poetic figure: it is Someone.  This has already been commented on [John 7:37; 14:1].

Starting from the day of Pentecost, the Spirit began to act in the Church, thus showing that he was the Spirit of CHRIST.  The unbelieving Jews thought that GOD was with them, but in reality, HIS Spirit did not act among them.  So, it was clear that they had sinned for not believing in CHRIST.) 

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Endure Sufferings As CHRIST Did

"... but bless the LORD CHRIST in your hearts.  Always have an answer ready, when you are called upon, to account for your hope, but give it simply and with respect.  Keep your conscience clear, so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your upright, Christian living.  Better to suffer for doing good, if it is GOD's will, than for doing wrong.  

Remember how CHRIST died, once, and for all, for our sins.  HE, the just one, died for the unjust, in order to lead us to GOD.  In the body, HE was put to death, in the spirit, HE was raised to life..." - 1 Peter 3:15-18   

(In the body HE was put to death, in the spirit HE was raised to life.  [The text says, "HE died according to flesh."]  This means that HE died because HE had accepted and really taken on our mortal condition, but HE had to be repossessed by the Spirit of GOD.  It is a reaffirmation of the double nature of CHRIST.  Compare with Romans 1:4.)

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The Hostile World

"If the world hates you, remember that the world hated ME before you.  This would not be so if you belonged to the world, because the world loves its own.  But you are not of the world, since I have chosen you from the world; because of this the world hates you.

Remember what I told you: the servant is not greater than his master; if they persecuted ME, they would also persecute you.  If they kept MY word, they would keep yours as well.  All this they will do to you on account of MY name, because they do not know the One who sent ME." - John 15:18-21 

(In spite of JESUS' having returned to HIS FATHER to initiate a more effective and universal presence among humankind, Satan continues to act with the power he has usurped.  The hatred of those who belong to Satan is directed against the believers and the Church.  Such helpers of Satan are called in John's Gospel: the world.

Believers are destined to be hated by the world.  It often happens that when a person begins to live in a more Christian and responsible way, she meets with opposition and hatred from her own family.  No one knows what has aroused the hatred, but the devil does, who moves everything to discourage us.)

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In Time Of Danger: A National Lament

  "My heart is steadfast, O GOD; my heart is steadfast.  I will sing and make music.

Awake, my soul; awake, O harp and lyre!  I will wake the dawn.

I will give thanks to YOU, O YAHWEH, among the peoples; I will sing praise to YOU among the nations.

Be exalted, O GOD, above the heavens!  Let YOUR glory be over all the earth!"

- Psalm 57:8-9. 10. 12

(The vehemence of the psalmists is a constant surprise.  Heaven knows what some of them must have gone through.  Even their joy seems to shine through tears.  This individual lament, followed by thanksgiving, is similar in form and content to the preceding psalm and to many others.  Nevertheless, there is more triumphant joy in the conclusion.  The 'morning' in the psalm often stands for the dawning of new hope.  The psalmist is awake, shouting so loud, that the personified Dawn, that is relief, will have to come.

This psalm could be the prayer of the one who waits, with total trust, for calamities to end.  The glory of the Most High fills the earth.)

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The Council's Letters

"Then the apostles and elders together with the whole Church decided to choose representatives from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.  These were Judas, known as Barsabbas, and Silas, both leading men among the brothers. They took with them the following letter:

'Greetings from the apostles and elders, your brothers, to the believers of non-Jewish birth in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia.  We have heard that some persons from among us have worried you with their discussions and troubled your peace of mind.  They were not appointed by us.  But now, it has seemed right to us in an assembly, to choose representatives and to send them to you, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have dedicated their lives to the service of our LORD JESUS CHRIST.  We send you then Judas and Silas who themselves will give you these instructions by word of mouth.

We, with the Holy Spirit, have decided not to put any other burden on you except what is necessary.  You are to abstain from blood from the meat of strangled animals and from prohibited marriages.  If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.  Farewell'.

After saying good-bye, the messengers went to Antioch, where they assembled the community and handed them the letter.  When they read the news, all were delighted with the encouragement it gave them." - Acts 15:22-31  

(If we re-read Chapter 2 of Galatians, then Acts 21:25, we may think that Luke has combined here two events: the meeting at Jerusalem as well as a decision James took later for the Churches that depended directly on Jerusalem and where the Christians of Jewish origin formed the majority.  That helps to understand the decree that follows.

The final decision of the "Council" of Jerusalem, as it is presented here, is doubtless the best the apostles and the Holy Spirit could do at the time.  Let us frankly say that the settlement could only be provisional and lacked doctrinal justification.  To impose Jewish laws was to penalize non-Jews; it was also a way of saying that the Church was unable to live according to the "newness" of the Gospel, free of the past, free of religious discipline.  In fact, a few years later, there was no question of these laws since the Church had freed itself of the Jewish community, just as it had been rejected by the Jews.

The following expressions are to be noted; the apostles, the elders, and the whole community... it has seemed right to the Holy Spirit and to us: the decision of the community united to its apostles guarantees the presence of the Holy Spirit.  On several occasions in history, similar debates have taken place, but then it was not a question of freeing the Gospel of the Old Testament laws; it was the laws and customs of the Church that had become the impossible burden to carry [v. 10] for a large human majority.  Only when a debate is wide open, as was the one at Jerusalem, does it succeed in pointing out the obstacles and ecclesiastical taboos.  As long as the central organisms stifle the liberty of expression, the mission weakens and encloses itself within a traditional clientele decreasing day by day.)

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The Vine And The Branches

"I AM the true vine, and MY FATHER is the vine grower.  If any of MY branches doesn't bear fruit, HE breaks it off; and HE prunes every branch that does bear fruit, that it may bear even more fruit.

You are already made clean by the word I have spoken to you.  Live in ME as I live in you.  The branch cannot bear fruit by itself, but has to remain part of the vine; so, neither can you, if you don't remain in ME.

I AM the vine and you are the branches.  As long as you remain in ME and I in you, you bear much fruit; but apart from ME you can do nothing.  Whoever does not remain in ME is thrown away, as they do with branches, and they wither.  Then they are gathered and thrown into the fire and burned.

If you remain in ME and MY words remain in you, you may ask whatever you want, and it will be given to you.  MY FATHER is glorified when you bear much fruit: it is then that you become MY disciples." - John 15:1-8   

(JESUS uses an image from the Scripture, but HE changes the original meaning, as HE did before when speaking of the Good Shepherd [John 10:1].  The vine represents the people of Israel.  Planted from selected stock, cared for by the LORD, it should have produced fruits of justice [Mark 12:1].

Now the true Vine has taken root.  CHRIST is the trunk from which the branches sprout, that is to say, all of us who live by HIM.  HE is also the entire plant, trunk and branches together: Christians are really the body of CHRIST.

Now JESUS does not say: The Christian community is the vine, but: I AM the vine.  So, each of us has to consider how he is joined with JESUS through faith, prayer, and keeping HIS word.  Each one has to bear fruit.  JESUS does not specify what these fruits should be: whether service, understanding, action for social justice, or a life silently offered to GOD.  Rather HE insists that these fruits should come from the Spirit and bear HIS proper seal.  The success of the Church is not measured by its achievements, but by the progress of those who interiorize CHRIST's mystery and share in HIS cross and resurrection.)

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"For The FATHER Is Greater Than I."

"Peace be with you!  MY peace I give to you; not as the world gives peace do I give it to you.  Do not be troubled!  Do not be afraid!  You heard ME say, 'I AM going away, but I AM coming to you.'  If you loved ME, you would be glad that I go to the FATHER, for the FATHER is greater than I.

I have told you this now before it takes place, so that when it does happen you may believe.  There is very little left for ME to tell you, for the prince of this world is at hand, although there is nothing in ME that he can claim.  But see, the world must know that I love the FATHER, and that I do what the FATHER has taught me to do.  Come now, let us go." - John 14:27-31  

(For the FATHER is greater than I.  This does not contradict what John teaches throughout the whole Gospel about JESUS' divinity.  This is to be read together with 5:18; 10:30; 16:15, if we want to know something of the mystery of CHRIST, "true GOD," as spoken of in Romans 9:5; Titus 2:13; and 1 John 5:20.

As early as the fourth century Saint Hilary, the great bishop and defender of the faith, wrote: "The FARTHER is greater because of being the one who gives.  As HE gives the Son all that HE HIMSELF is, yet the Son is not inferior to the FATHER."

Moreover, it is characteristic of the Son to deny HIMSELF so that HE may give glory to the FATHER, until the FATHER gives HIM back "the glory HE had before" as said in 17:5 and 6:62.

Because of this the apostles, who have seen HIM as a man among humans in the time of HIS humiliation, should now rejoice.)

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The Helper (Or Interpreter), The Holy Spirit Will Teach You

"'Whoever keeps MY commandments is the one who loves ME.  If he loves ME, he will also be loved by MY FATHER; I too shall love HIM and show MYSELF clearly to him.'

Judas--not Judas Iscariot--asked JESUS, 'LORD, how can it be that YOU will show YOURSELF clearly to us and not to the world?'  JESUS answered him, 'If anyone loves ME, he will keep MY word, and MY FATHER will love him; and WE will come to him and live with him.  But if anyone does not love ME, he will not keep MY words; and these words that you hear are not MINE, but the FATHER's who sent ME.

I told you all this while I AM still with you.  From now on the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the FATHER will send in MY name, will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I have told you.'" - John 14:21-26  

(The Helper [or Interpreter] will teach you.  The Spirit enables us to understand and interpret JESUS' words throughout all time.  Compare with 15:26. The Holy Spirit proceeds as much from the FATHER as from the Son being, with them, only one GOD.

LORD how can it be that YOU will show YOURSELF clearly to us and not to the world?  Judas thought that JESUS meant HE would summon them for secret meetings, but JESUS really meant HE would make HIMSELF known to them through interior teaching and by letting them experience peace.)

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