Fr. Mike focuses on the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch and how it demonstrates the importance of having guidance when reading Scripture. Although God's Word is infallible, we can easily misunderstand it without proper interpretation, which is why we have the Magisterium of the Church. Lastly, Fr. Mike also touches on the role of persecution in the life of the Church, and St. Paul's encouragement to abide by the law of love. Today we read Acts 8, Romans 13-14, and Proverbs 27:15-17. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.
Chapter 1: What is the focus of today's readings?
Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 329. We're reading from the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 8, as well as St. Paul's letter to the Romans, chapters 13 and 14. And Proverbs chapter 27, verses 15 through 17.
As always, the Bible translation I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. You can also subscribe to this podcast. Receive daily episodes and daily updates. You have, you know, I don't know, 35.
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Either way, you can subscribe now and it won't be too late. As I said, it is day 329 and we are reading Acts of the Apostles chapter 8, St. Paul's letter to the Romans 13 and 14 and the book of Proverbs chapter 27 verses 15 through 17. The Acts of the Apostles chapter 8. And Saul was consenting to his death. Saul persecutes the church.
And on that day, a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem. And they were all scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul laid waste to the church. And entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Philip preaches in Samaria.
Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to a city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the multitudes with one accord gave heed to what was said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs which he did. For unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, crying with a loud voice, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.
So there was much joy in that city.
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Chapter 2: Why is guidance important in understanding Scripture?
simon the magician but there was a man named simon who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the nation of samaria saying that he himself was somebody great they all listened to him from the least to the greatest saying this man is that power of god which is called great and they listened to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic
But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized, he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.
Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For the Spirit had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. But Peter said to him, Your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money.
You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. And Simon answered, Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.
Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Rise, and go toward the south, to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert road. And he rose and went.
And behold, an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a minister of Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of all her treasure, had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning. Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the spirit said to Philip, Go up and join this chariot.
So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, Do you understand what you are reading? And he said, How can I, unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the scripture which he was reading was this, As a sheep led to the slaughter, or a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken up from the earth. And the eunuch said to Philip, Please, about whom does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else? Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture, he told him the good news of Jesus.
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Chapter 3: What happens during Philip's encounter with the Ethiopian Eunuch?
St.
Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 13, being subject to authorities. Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.
Would you have no fear of him who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. He is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore, one must be subject not only to avoid God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience.
For the same reason, you also pay taxes. For the authorities are ministers of God attending to this very thing. Pay all of them their dues. Taxes, to whom taxes are due. Revenue, to whom revenue is due. Respect, to whom respect is due. Honor, to whom honor is due. Love for one another. Owe no one anything except to love one another. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
The commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and any other commandment are summed up in this sentence. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. an urgent appeal. Besides this, you know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep.
For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy.
but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. Chapter 14 Do not judge one another. As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions. One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables.
Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls, and he will be upheld, for the master is able to make him stand. One man esteems one day as better than another, while another man esteems all days alike.
Let everyone be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. He also who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God. While he who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord.
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Chapter 4: How does St. Paul address authority in Romans?
Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Father in heaven, we thank you and give you praise.
Thank you for being with us today. Thank you for feeding us with your word, with your spirit. Thank you for being present to us and shaping our hearts and lighting them on fire. Help us to love you and to love our neighbor as ourself. Help us to love each other well. In Jesus' name, we pray. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. So, gosh, you guys, oh my goodness.
Acts of the Apostles, incredible. I want to highlight a couple things. One is, it might be odd that we started with chapter 8, verse 1, and it starts with the word and, which basically connects chapter 7, verse 60. And so you might have thought, wait, what? What happened again? This was when Stephen had been stoned and they laid the cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.
And Stephen cried out, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. The next verse, and Saul was consenting to his death. So that's kind of like if you're wondering, wait, what? That's what. And right after this, in basically the same verse, chapter 8, verse 1, continued, it says, on that day, a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem.
So here, starting with Stephen, then other Christians were then persecuted. And that is... In one verse, verse one of chapter eight, and Saul is consenting to his death. That's one. The next thing, on that day, a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem. That's two, persecution. And then three, same verse here.
And they were all scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Now, those three movements, here is Saul consenting to Stephen's death. Secondly, here's the persecution arising in Jerusalem. Thirdly, here is the scattering of Christians throughout the region of Judea and Samaria. Remember what Jesus had said.
So you'll receive the Holy Spirit and then you will proclaim, basically bring the gospel starting here in Jerusalem throughout Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth. And this is Jesus' words being fulfilled, but what is the context in which they're being fulfilled? The context is persecution. I think sometimes, gosh, we need to pray about this, especially as Christians in the 21st century.
We need to pray about this. Sometimes we think, well, if I'm gonna have the blessing of God, if I'm gonna live out the plan, the will of God, it's gonna be prettier, right? It's gonna be more... There's gonna be less pain. There's gonna be less persecution. There's gonna be only blessing. What happens?
Here, verse one of chapter eight, Saul consenting to Stephen's death, church being persecuted, and that sparks the next step of evangelization. That sparks the next step of the growth of the church, not just in Jerusalem, but throughout Judea and Samaria, and then further persecution will spark even more growth to the ends of the earth.
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Chapter 5: What does love fulfill according to Paul's letters?
Chapter 6: What is the significance of baptism in this episode?
Let everyone be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. He also who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God. While he who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord.
So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother?
For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God, for it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God. So each of us shall give account of himself to God. Do not hinder a brother. Then let us no more pass judgment on one another, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.
I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. If your brother is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. So do not let what is good to you be spoken of as evil.
For the kingdom of God does not mean food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. He who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make others fall by what he eats.
It is not right to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that makes your brother stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Happy is he who has no reason to judge himself for what he approves. But he who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not act from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.
a continual dripping on a rainy day, and a contentious woman are alike. To restrain her is to restrain the wind, or to grasp oil in one's right hand.
Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Father in heaven, we thank you and give you praise.
Thank you for being with us today. Thank you for feeding us with your word, with your spirit. Thank you for being present to us and shaping our hearts and lighting them on fire. Help us to love you and to love our neighbor as ourself. Help us to love each other well. In Jesus' name, we pray. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. So, gosh, you guys, oh my goodness.
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