Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter

…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts of the Apostles 1: 8

Readers of the Acts of the Apostles, following the story of Saint Paul and his travels, are surprised by the apparently abrupt ending of the book.

He remained for two full years in his lodgings. He received all who came to him, and with complete assurance and without hindrance he proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then what happened? Somehow the modern reader expects to hear of Paul’s glorious martyrdom. And he probably was dead by the time Saint Luke wrote the book. But the legends of Saint Paul suggest he left Rome after this initial visit and went to Spain. So why does it end here?

In fact, Luke has finished his story. In fulfillment of Jesus' command that his disciples should announce the Gospel from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth, Luke has narrated the journey of the gospel from Jerusalem to the political, military, and economic capital of the known world, Rome.

But we must notice how it got there: in chains! The prisoner Paul has arrived, as did Saint Ignatius of Antioch, courtesy of the taxpayers’ dollar. The irony is sublime and altogether fitting. The good news of Jesus Christ, who had died by ignominious crucifixion, could not come to Rome in this world’s trappings of glory. Rather, it should arrive clandestinely through the system of incarceration.

Pentecostals will tell you their movement spread from Azusa Street in Los Angeles throughout the United States by way of the tie rods under boxcars. Alcoholics Anonymous spread throughout the country and the world by word of mouth among hopeful drunks. The Gospel will not be greeted with a fanfare of trumpets; it must come on its own terms in the least likely ways.