WHAT DOES HE MEAN…

Acts 18:1-8

1 After this he left Athens and went to Corinth.2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, lately come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them; 

3 and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them, and they worked, for by trade they were tentmakers.4 And he argued in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks. 

5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with preaching, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”7 And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God; his house was next door to the synagogue. 

8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with all his household; and many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. 

John 16:16-20

16 “A little while, and you will see me no more; again a little while, and you will see me.”17 Some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?” 

18 They said, “What does he mean by ‘a little while? We do not know what he means.”19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him; so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me?20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.

MEDITATION

St LUKE RECORDS that Rome began to expel the Jews and most probably Christianized Jews that saw a Christian couple Aquila and Priscilla “fellow workers” of Paul (Rm 16:3) settling in Corinth where they set up house churches. This couple provided Paul with accommodation as he continued to attend the synagogue on the  Sabbath  to evangelize the Jewish communities. Paul’s efforts to convince His people that the Messiah has come to fulfill the scripture is met with fierce opposition and ridicule to the extent that Paul, Timothy and Silas began to focus their efforts on the gentiles. 

Crispus, a hellenist official and ruler of a synagogue also known as a ‘archisynagogos’ embraced the Gospel message. He and his family and probably his entire congregation were baptised and received into the Christian Church! We notice that neophytes and or converts to the Christian faith are ‘called’ to firstly believe the oral teachings as proclaimed by the authorized Apostles who were ‘send’ (Mt 28;19-20) by the Church. Upon heeding God’s call the neophytes are initiated into the Christian community in the Sacrament of baptism. 

THE GOSPEL READING: The apostles struggled to make sense of our Lord’s apparent coded language that appeared to veil them from understanding and knowing every detail of His journey. To the contrary, our Lord has on many occasions foretold directly and in parables (Mt 24:44;Mk 8:31;Lk 12:40;Jn 12:34) His journey, however their hearts and minds needed to be opened by the Holy Spirit.

Many self appointed preachers has attempted to second guess and predict the eschaton with all sorts of rapture theories.To date these predictions have come to nought and if the truth be told, it  has caused many souls to be lost and devout believers led astray and confused! 

The Catholic Church teaches: Catec 675 Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers.574 The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth575 will unveil the “mystery of iniquity” in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.676 The Antichrist’s deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgment. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism,577 especially the “intrinsically perverse” political form of a secular messianism.578

We are called to not speculate and follow false novel teachers, but to remain true to the authoritative teachings of Christ as handed down to His Church,the pillar and bulwark of truth.1Tim 3:15

LET US PRAY: Psalms 98:1-4

O sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory. 

2 The LORD has made known his victory, he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations. 

3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God. 

4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! 

catholicwitnessct@gmail.com    Henry R SYLVESTER              

Note: The daily scripture readings are taken from the Roman Missal which the Catholic Church use in the daily Celebration of the Holy Eucharist throughout the world.Some weekly readings may differ because of the celebration of local feast days

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