Saint Louis de Montfort
Saint Peter's Basilica
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
First Reading:
From: Acts 9:26-31
Barnabas and Paul in Jerusalem
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[26] And when he had come to Jerusalem he attempted to join the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. [27] But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. [28] So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, [29] preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists; but they were seeking to kill him. [30] And when the brethren knew it; they brought him to Caesarea, and sent him off to Tarsus.
The Growth of the Church
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[31] So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was built up; and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit it was multiplied.
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Commentary:
26. This is the first time Paul presents himself in Jerusalem after his conversion. He went up to see Peter, with whom he spent fifteen days (cf. Gal 1:18), and put himself at Peter's disposal; and to check that his teaching was in line with that of the Apostles.
Barnabas (see note on 4:36) dispelled the Jerusalem community's initial understandable suspicion of their one-time persecutor. They had been only too well aware of his determination to suppress the Church and had not yet heard about his preaching in Damascus.
During his short stay in Jerusalem Paul preached boldly his faith in the divinity of Jesus and met the same kind of opposition as he did in Damascus.
30. For the second time St Paul has to flee for his life. Commenting on this episode, St John Chrysostom explains that, in addition to grace, human resourcefulness has a part to play in apostolic activity. "The disciples were afraid that the Jews would do to Saul what they had done to St Stephen. This may be why they sent him to preach the Gospel in his homeland, where he would be safer. In this action of the Apostles you can see that God does not do everything directly, by means of his grace, and that he frequently lets his disciples act in line with the rule of prudence" ("Hom. on Acts", 20).
Chrysostom also sees in Paul's earlier flight from Damascus an example of prudent conduct: "Despite his great desire to be with God, he first had to carry out his mission for the salvation of souls. [...] Jesus Christ does not preserve his Apostles from dangers: he lets them confront them, because he wants men to use the resources of prudence to escape from them. Why does he arrange things in this way? In order to have us understand that the Apostles are also men and that grace does not do everything in its servants. Otherwise, would people not have seen them as inert and lifeless things? That is why the Apostles did many things by following the dictates of prudence. Let us follow their example and use all our natural abilities to work with grace for the salvation of our brethren" ("ibid.").
31. St Luke breaks his narrative to give an overview of the steady progress of the Church as a whole and of the various communities that have grown up as a result of the Christians' flight from Jerusalem (cf. Acts 2:40, 47; 4:4; 5:14; 6:1, 7; 11:21, 24; 16:5). He emphasizes the peace and consolation the Holy Spirit has brought them. This note of justified optimism and trust in God confirms that God is with his Church and that no human force can destroy it (cf. 5:39).