Dear Lord God, today as I pray for You to work Your will through me, I think of others in need of prayer, the hope of the power of my prayer and how I must broaden my focus so that Your work in me begins to serve others more quickly and continually as Your work in me rather than after. I realize the simplicity yet difficulty in understanding and living the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel; ‘peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you.’ I meditate on the secret truths that I feel You are revealing to me through the history of the Church as depicted with the Holy Book of the Bible as we know it and the other books that have become known to us. I am reminded of all the misuses of Your words, and of the value of the Holy Trinity and the need to be aware of the Holy Spirit that lives within us, the words of Jesus Christ as the Son of man, and the power of Your voice which lives in those words of Jesus and is available to us through the Holy Spirit within if we seek and learn to listen a discern Your will from ours. For I believe the words in today’s readings from the book of Acts in the letter to the Gentiles that ‘it seemed good to the Jerusalem Council through the Holy Spirit that no greater burden be necessary’; for to open the door to our hearts and to welcome You into our hearts so that we may learn to love and serve others in Your name is Your will. I discuss these thins with You Lord God in hope that You would guide my thoughts and direct my words and actions In Christ’s name for Your glory and honor. Amen.
The whole Trinity appeared: the Father in the voice; the Son in the man; the Spirit in the shining cloud.
— St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III
1 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." 2 And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. 22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsab’bas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren, 23 with the following letter: "The brethren, both the apostles and the elders, to the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cili’cia, greeting. 24 Since we have heard that some persons from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, 25 it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from unchastity. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell."
Bible Study: [1-35] The Jerusalem "Council" marks the official rejection of the rigid view that Gentile converts were obliged to observe the Mosaic law completely. From here to the end of Acts, Paul and the Gentile mission become the focus of Luke’s writing. [13-35] Some scholars think that this apostolic decree suggested by James, the immediate leader of the Jerusalem community, derives from another historical occasion than the meeting in question. This seems to be the case if the meeting is the same as the one related in Gal 2:1-10. According to that account, nothing was imposed upon Gentile Christians in respect to Mosaic law; whereas the decree instructs Gentile Christians of mixed communities to abstain from meats sacrificed to idols and from blood-meats, and to avoid marriage within forbidden degrees of consanguinity and affinity (Lev 18), all of which practices were especially abhorrent to Jews. Luke seems to have telescoped two originally independent incidents here: the first a Jerusalem "Council" that dealt with the question of circumcision, and the second a Jerusalem decree dealing mainly with Gentile observance of dietary laws (see Acts 21:25 where Paul seems to be learning of the decree for the first time).
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!
May God have pity on us and bless us;
may he let his face shine upon us.
So may your way be known upon earth;
among all nations, your salvation.
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!
May the nations be glad and exult
because you rule the peoples in equity;
the nations on the earth you guide.
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!
May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you!
May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth fear him!
R. O God, let all the nations praise you!
Bible Study: [Psalm 67] A petition for a bountiful harvest (Psalm 67:7), made in the awareness that Israel’s prosperity will persuade the nations to worship its God.
10 And in the Spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed; 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
Bible Study: [22] Christ is present throughout the church; hence, no temple is needed as an earthly dwelling for God; cf Matthew 18:20; 28:20; John 4:21.
23 Jesus answered him, "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. 25 "These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, `I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe.
Bible Study: [27] Peace: the traditional Hebrew salutation salom; but Jesus’ "Shalom" is a gift of salvation, connoting the bounty of messianic blessing. [28] The Father is greater than I: because he sent, gave, etc., and Jesus is "a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God" (John 8:40).
/ raangulo
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