Daily Reflections - April 23,2013

AN EXCITING MOMENT IN CHURCH HISTORY

 

Today’s First Reading is, for me, one of the most exciting passages in the Acts of the Apostles. Why? These verses are exciting because they tell us that the persecution of the Church in Jerusalem was actually a blessing. Many Christians fled, and so, the Good News spread beyond the borders of Palestine. Then we read about Barnabas, “a good man,” who strengthened the young community in Antioch with his goodness and kindness. More than that, he went to Tarsus and got Paul out of his loneliness and brought him right into the center of missionary activity. Without Barnabas searching for him, we might not know anything about a certain Paul. And finally, we come to know that it was in Antioch that the followers of Christ were first called “Christians,” a name you and I still carry with pride. Do you realize why these verses are, for me, so exciting?

We feel in this passage the excitement of growth, the excitement of a dynamic, Spirit-filled community that could not be contained in the city of Antioch, but would soon drive Barnabas and Paul into the Hellenistic world to make Christ known to countless people throughout many countries.

How I wish our faithful here would be as dynamic as those in Antioch, as Barnabas and Paul were! Fortunately, there are many Charismatic groups and other lay communities where I feel the exciting spirit of the community in Antioch. But unfortunately, too, many faithful do not live out their faith in daily life. They don’t give the example Barnabas and Paul gave, through whom the Church grew dramatically. And so the Church here does not have the influence on the society She should and could have. The result? Graft and corruption, immorality and criminality flourish here more than in some neighboring Buddhist countries. How sad! Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: How many people have you brought to Christ through your example and living faith?

 

Lord, what has happened to me and my fellow Christians here? There is not much excitement in living out my faith. Send Your powerful Spirit and make me more receptive to His inspiration.