Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had gathered he said to them, "My brothers, although I had done nothing against our people or our ancestral customs..."
Saint Luke's sequel to his gospel, the Acts of the Apostles, ends with Saint Paul's arrival in Rome. He was wearing shackles and remained under house arrest for some time, but he was free to speak with anyone who might visit. And so the irrepressible missionary invited his Jewish peers to meet and decide his case for themselves.
Apparently their reception was good because, for the next two years,
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.
Rome's unexpected hospitality represented the welcome the Gospel would find throughout the world. As he met these Jewish elders, Saint Paul also insisted that he bore no ill will against the Jerusalem faction who opposed him so violently, "even though I had no accusation to make against my own nation." During the long, harrowing sea voyage from Israel, including shipwreck in Malta, he had found peace in his heart and discovered a purpose for his exile.
For him (and for Luke) the center of the world would be the ends of world. He was completing Jesus's command to "be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” From Rome, missionaries would sail for the Americas, Australia, Asia, and Oceania.
And they should have no accusation against Jesus's own Jewish nation. The Gospel fulfills the Law of Moses, it does not upend or uproot it. Always sinful, always needing reform, always one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, the Church retains its anchors in Israel and Rome, in history and geography. We belong on this planet and in this world, although our home is in heaven.
The Easter season ends rather abruptly with the feast of Pentecost. We are propelled like a ball off a bat -- or a cannonball -- from the alleluias of Easter into the Ordinary Time of a prosaic, uninspired world. On Tuesday, after a Memorial of Mary, we will resume the study of the gospels where we left off before Ash Wednesday.
We might ask today, on this Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter, what has changed in our hearts. The world of politics, economics, society, and entertainment has seen some changes in the several months, though none terribly important. Rivalries, wars, and killings continue. The rich are richer and more isolated, and the poor more deeply anchored in poverty.
What have I learned since Shrove Tuesday? Has my heart witnessed something wonderful? Am I telling anyone about it?
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.