Elija Mission

Regarding the Petrine office, we emphasized yesterday that when Jesus called Peter to his ministry of shepherding the sheep, He asked him about his love and then entrusted him with the task of feeding them (John 21:15–19).

We further considered that the Pope’s ministry consists, in particular, in authentically transmitting Christ’s teaching through the centuries until the day of His return at the end of time, for the Church has understood Peter’s calling as an appointment to a universal pastoral office. In this context, it must be emphasized how important it is that the Church remain protected from heresies and reject them, so that their poison does not penetrate the Body of Christ.

In what follows, I would like to highlight a few points that are indispensable for a true shepherd of the Church.

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Acts 14:19-28

Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and turned the people against them. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the town, thinking he was dead. The disciples came crowding round him but, as they did so, he stood up and went back to the town. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe. Having preached the good news in that town and made a considerable number of disciples, they went back through Lystra, Iconium and Antioch. They put fresh heart into the disciples, encouraging them to persevere in the faith, saying, ‘We must all experience many hardships before we enter the kingdom of God.’ In each of these churches they appointed elders, and with prayer and fasting they commended them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe. They passed through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia. Then after proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia and from there sailed for Antioch, where they had originally been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. On their arrival they assembled the church and gave an account of all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith to the gentiles. They stayed there with the disciples for some time. Read More

Acts 14:5-18

Eventually with the connivance of the authorities a move was made by gentiles as well as Jews to make attacks on them and to stone them. When they came to hear of this, they went off for safety to Lycaonia where, in the towns of Lystra and Derbe and in the surrounding country, they preached the good news. There was a man sitting there who had never walked in his life, because his feet were crippled from birth; he was listening to Paul preaching, and Paul looked at him intently and saw that he had the faith to be cured. Paul said in a loud voice, ‘Get to your feet-stand up,’ and the cripple jumped up and began to walk. When the crowds saw what Paul had done they shouted in the language of Lycaonia, ‘The gods have come down to us in human form.’ They addressed Barnabas as Zeus, and since Paul was the principal speaker they called him Hermes. The priests of Zeus-outside-the-Gate, proposing that all the people should offer sacrifice with them, brought garlanded oxen to the gates. When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard what was happening they tore their clothes, and rushed into the crowd, shouting, ‘Friends, what do you think you are doing? We are only human beings, mortal like yourselves. We have come with good news to make you turn from these empty idols to the living God who made sky and earth and the sea and all that these hold. In the past he allowed all the nations to go their own way; but even then he did not leave you without evidence of himself in the good things he does for you: he sends you rain from heaven and seasons of fruitfulness; he fills you with food and your hearts with merriment.’ With this speech they just managed to prevent the crowd from offering them sacrifice. Read More

NOTE: Today we will reflect on the Gospel according to the traditional calendar.

Jn 16:5-14

Now I am going to the one who sent me. Not one of you asks, ‘Where are you going?’ Yet you are sad at heart because I have told you this. Still, I am telling you the truth: it is for your own good that I am going, because unless I go, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will show the world how wrong it was, about sin, and about who was in the right, and about judgement: about sin: in that they refuse to believe in me; about who was in the right: in that I am going to the Father and you will see me no more; about judgement: in that the prince of this world is already condemned. I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you to bear now. However, when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking of his own accord, but will say only what he has been told; and he will reveal to you the things to come. He will glorify me, since all he reveals to you will be taken from what is mine. Read More

Acts 13:44-52

The next Sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the word of God. When they saw the crowds, the Jews, filled with jealousy, used blasphemies to contradict everything Paul said. Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out fearlessly. ‘We had to proclaim the word of God to you first, but since you have rejected it, since you do not think yourselves worthy of eternal life, here and now we turn to the gentiles. For this is what the Lord commanded us to do when he said: I have made you a light to the nations, so that my salvation may reach the remotest parts of the earth.’ It made the gentiles very happy to hear this and they gave thanks to the Lord for his message; all who were destined for eternal life became believers. Thus the word of the Lord spread through the whole countryside. But the Jews worked on some of the devout women of the upper classes and the leading men of the city; they stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their territory. So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went off to Iconium; but the converts were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. Read More

NOTE: Due to current circumstances, I will be drawing on speeches I have given over the past few years in the coming days. However, as we will see, this topic fits seamlessly into our reflections on the Church’s mission, as Saint Paul repeatedly proclaims the Gospel message first to the Jews in the synagogues and then to the Gentiles.

 Acts 13:26-33

In those days, when Paul came to Pisidian Antioch, he said in the synagogue: ‘My brothers, sons of Abraham’s race, and all you godfearers, this message of salvation is meant for you. What the people of Jerusalem and their rulers did, though they did not realise it, was in fact to fulfil the prophecies read on every Sabbath. Though they found nothing to justify his execution, they condemned him and asked Pilate to have him put to death. When they had carried out everything that scripture foretells about him they took him down from the tree and buried him in a tomb.

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Today we want to look at how the Apostle Paul—even before those who had come to believe in the Messiah were excluded—presented God’s work to the Jews in the synagogue at Antioch in order to lead them to Jesus.

Acts 13:13-25

Paul and his companions went by sea from Paphos to Perga in Pamphylia where John left them to go back to Jerusalem. The others carried on from Perga till they reached Antioch in Pisidia. Here they went to synagogue on the Sabbath and took their seats. After the passages from the Law and the Prophets had been read, the presidents of the synagogue sent them a message, ‘Brothers, if you would like to address some words of encouragement to the congregation, please do so.’ Paul stood up, raised his hand for silence and began to speak: ‘Men of Israel, and fearers of God, listen! The God of our nation Israel chose our ancestors and made our people great when they were living in Egypt, a land not their own; then by divine power he led them out and for about forty years took care of them in the desert. When he had destroyed seven nations in Canaan, he put them in possession of their land for about four hundred and fifty years. After this he gave them judges, down to the prophet Samuel. Then they demanded a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin. After forty years, he deposed him and raised up David to be king, whom he attested in these words, “I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will perform my entire will.” To keep his promise, God has raised up for Israel one of David’s descendants, Jesus, as Saviour, whose coming was heralded by John when he proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the whole people of Israel. Before John ended his course he said, “I am not the one you imagine me to be; there is someone coming after me whose sandal I am not fit to undo.”

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Having shared in St. Paul’s sorrow that so many Jews did not recognize Jesus—neither in His own time nor through the preaching of the apostles—and still do not recognize Him to this day, I would like to let the Lord speak for Himself.

In Rabbi Eugenio Zolli, we came to know a Jew who found his way to Jesus. In Augustine, we encountered a seeker who allowed himself to be touched by the Word of God and subsequently oriented his entire life toward God. May many more people experience this: that they encounter the “Light of the World” (John 9:5) and the Word of God, who is the Lord Himself!

Jn 12:44-50

Jesus declared publicly: Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me, sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as light, to prevent anyone who believes in me from staying in the dark any more. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them faithfully, it is not I who shall judge such a person, since I have come not to judge the world, but to save the world: anyone who rejects me and refuses my words has his judge already: the word itself that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day. For I have not spoken of my own accord; but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and what to speak, and I know that his commands mean eternal life. And therefore what the Father has told me is what I speak.

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