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Every actor, from the days of the first flickering silent pictures to the cinematic extravaganzas exhibited today, has lamented that some hack editor has left his best work to rot on the cutting room floor. This creative difference of opinion between actor, director and editorial personnel has more than once resulted in the police restoring order at a Hollywood party at which an earnest conversation about artistic merit had become, shall we say, somewhat less professional. While we can be assured with a reasonable certainty that Saint Paul would not resort to violence, we may be equally certain that neither would he react kindly to one of his best scenes being removed from the drama that we call the "Acts of the Apostles." Yet in today's first reading this is precisely what has occurred. The Liturgist gives us Acts chapter 13, verse 14, which concludes with, "On the sabbath they entered (into) the synagogue and took their seats." The text then resumes at Acts chapter 13, verse 43 with, "...many Jews and worshipers who were converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to remain faithful to the grace of God." The words that are here excluded, the words of verse 15 to verse 42, which fell to the cutting room floor, comprise the words of the sermon that Paul gave at the synagogue on that first sabbath day in Antioch of Pisidia. Surely the individual or committee responsible for selecting the Scriptures that form the basis of our daily worship must have a thoroughly reasoned explanation as to why the words of Paul would be excluded from today's text, but, as a Catholic layman, it is beyond me to determine just where within the church the authority for editing the Holy Scriptures might reside. Before I became Catholic, I had supposed that responsibility for this sort of thing must come from God Himself. I've had modern Catholics tell me that this kind of attitude makes me a fundamentalist. While this may or may not be true, I prefer to believe that it just makes me cautious. Therefore, I feel obligated to return these words of Paul to their proper place within today's assigned scripture, so that they may be shared with all of you. In the long run, I would much rather risk the wrath of the liturgical editor than that of Saint Paul -- or Christ! And, as you will hear, Paul would be most justified in this case to make the claim that some of his best work had, indeed, ended up on the cutting room floor. The bonus for you is that you get to hear the Gospel today preached from the lips of Saint Paul himself. It is always a treat. Observing Paul preach is like watching Babe Ruth play baseball or Muhammad Ali box. It's like seeing Michael Jordan play basketball or Tiger Woods play golf. It is knowing that you are witness to something special. It is seeing the standard established by which all that do the same will forever more be judged. In the world of Christian preaching, Paul is that standard by which all others are judged. While his letters prove him to also be a theologian of similar merit, it is his sermons, as preserved for us by Saint Luke in the Book of Acts, that carry all the power and intimacy of a live performance by Paul the Evangelist. Any preacher that truly and effectively proclaims the Gospel will tell you that it is Paul that showed him how to do it. Any evangelist that is honest will also be humble enough to tell you that Paul's words will win more souls to Christ today than the rest of us will in our lifetimes. Combined. And so, far be it from me to deprive you of the words of Paul the Apostle; a man that has for two thousand years been the second most revered figure in Scripture next to Jesus himself. The words that follow are why. And so, allow me to spool up this clip from the cutting room floor and, without further adieu, present to you this scene from the director's cut of Acts 13. The setting is the synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia. We pick up the story when: On
the sabbath they entered (into) the
synagogue and took their seats.
After the reading of the law and the prophets, the synagogue officials sent word to them, "My brothers, if one of you has a word of exhortation for the people, please speak." So Paul got up, motioned with his hand, and said, "Fellow Israelites and you others who are God-fearing, listen: The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and exalted the people during their sojourn in the land of Egypt. With uplifted arm he led them out of it and for about forty years he put up with them in the desert. When he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance, at the end of about four hundred and fifty years. After these things he provided judges up to Samuel (the) prophet. Then they asked for a king. God gave them Saul, son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. Then he removed him and raised up David as their king; of him he testified, 'I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will carry out my every wish.' From this man's descendants God, according to his promise, has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus. John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel; and as John was completing his course, he would say, 'What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. Behold, one is coming after me; I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.' "My brothers, children of the family of Abraham, and those others among you who are God-fearing; to us this word of salvation has been sent. The inhabitants of Jerusalem and their leaders failed to recognize him, and by condemning him they fulfilled the oracles of the prophets that are read sabbath after sabbath. For even though they found no grounds for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him put to death, and when they had accomplished all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and placed him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. These are (now) his witnesses before the people. We ourselves are proclaiming this good news to you that what God promised our ancestors he has brought to fulfillment for us, (their) children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second psalm, 'You are my son; this day I have begotten you.' And that he raised him from the dead never to return to corruption he declared in this way, 'I shall give you the benefits assured to David.' That is why he also says in another psalm, 'You will not suffer your holy one to see corruption.' Now David, after he had served the will of God in his lifetime, fell asleep, was gathered to his ancestors, and did see corruption. But the one whom God raised up did not see corruption. You must know, my brothers, that through him forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you, (and) in regard to everything from which you could not be justified under the law of Moses, in him every believer is justified. Be careful, then, that what was said in the prophets not come about: 'Look on, you scoffers, be amazed and disappear. For I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will never believe even if someone tells you.'" As they were leaving, they invited them to speak on these subjects the following sabbath. After the congregation had dispersed, many Jews and worshipers who were converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to remain faithful to the grace of God. Well, I certainly have nothing to add and there is nothing here that needs elaboration. And so I leave you with this exhortation from Paul and Barnabas to "remain faithful to the grace of God" And when selecting the Scriptures for our worship, the liturgist is urged to do likewise and resist any temptation that results in the Gospel message ending up on the cutting room floor. The church must always protect and proclaim the word of God, "For this is what the Lord commanded us to do when he said: 'I have made you a light for the nations, so that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.'" The church is urged to ... "Be careful, then, that what was said in the prophets not come about." |
Paul's First Missionary Journey |
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Introduction
to Acts chapter 13 finds Paul and Barnabas engaged in the latter’s first missionary journey. Set apart by the Holy Spirit at the church in Antioch, a strategic Roman city on the northeastern corner of the Mediterranean Sea, the pair and their companions had traveled through Cyprus to Perga, a seaport in the province of Pamphylia on the southern coast of central Asia Minor. From Perga they travel nearly due north for 100 miles to get to This Antioch is located in the province of Pisidia, and the underlying sense of excitement that permeates this story is due to the fact that the church now stretches geographically from “Antioch to Antioch,” which is some 500 miles from Jerusalem. Even this far from home, the power of the Gospel is evident in Paul’s preaching, and the old pattern repeats itself: The Gentiles embrace Christ and come to conversion, while the Jews rebel and seek to persecute and expel the missionaries from their territory – even as many of their own number come to the Lord. Reading A reading from the Book of Acts: On the
sabbath they entered
the synagogue and took their seats. Many Jews and
worshipers who
were converts to Judaism On the
following sabbath almost the whole city gathered Introduction
to The Book of Revelation draws
as much critical fire and popular acclaim now as it did circulating
through the
very churches denounced in its pages during the second century. Wherever sincere hearts seek out the Lord,
and whenever the forces of evil conspire with temporal powers to
confuse them,
the immortal words of this book, the deepest glimpse into the mind of
God ever
recorded, speaks with a clear voice that touches the human soul at its
most
profound level. While much popular attention
is given to identifying the various prophetic symbols of this work with
their
corresponding real world entities, its true power lies not in what it
does (and
does not) predict about our earthly situation, but in the vision it
presents of
our heavenly future. In tonight’s reading, John
finds himself a witness before the very throne of God in a vision that
defies
all comprehension. He views a great
multitude in perpetual adoration to God, and is told that they are
those that
have overcome their earthly troubles and have “…washed their robes and
made
them white in the blood of the Lamb.” That
is, they have been purified and justified unto eternal life through the
saving
power of the shed blood of Christ. This is the Gospel promise, and John
sees it
fulfilled. Eternity in the presence of
God, who cures all our ills and fills all our needs, is the fulfillment
of Scripture
and a goal that lies far beyond the earthly and political realities of
both
state and church. In the end, the irony
to be found in all the attention given the worldly, political aspects
of
Revelation is found in the message of the book itself: none of it
matters. What does matter is what we
are about to hear. Reading II: Revelation 7:9, 14b-17 Gospel: |