Podcasts about aeropagus

Dibawakan oleh Yudith Embulaba dan Laurens Embulaba dari Komunitas Pukat Labuan Bajo di Keuskupan Labuan Bajo, Indonesia. Kisah Para Rasul 17: 15.22 - 18: 1; Mazmur tg 148: 1-2.11-12ab.12c-14a.14bcd; Yohanes 16: 12-15.JUMLAH PENTING,TAPI BUKAN SATU-SATUNYA Tema renungan kita pada hari ini ialah: Jumlah Penting, Tapi BukanSatu-Satunya. Sebutan lain untuk kalimat ini ialah jangan mengejar saja jumlahatau kuantitas, karena yang juga penting ialah kualitas atau mutu.  Ini dapat diterapkan dalam konteks apa saja, termasuk dalam kisahpenyebaran Injil yang dilakukan Paulus dan rekan-rekannya di arena Aeropagus, diAthena. Orang-orang yang percaya pada dewa-dewa itu menolak semua ajaran Paulustentang Yesus Kristus, dan hanya satu dua orang saja yang percaya. Suatupencapaian yang sangat minim dari segi jumlah, kalau dibandingkan dengansejumlah daerah lain yang telah dikunjunginya.  Kalau yang dikejar terutama ialah jumlah atau sebanyak mungkin pengikutbaru, hasil ini pasti sangat mengecewakan. Namun Paulus dan rombongannya tahubahwa ini adalah pekerjaannya Tuhan, dengan semuanya terserah Tuhan saja.Biarkanlah kehendak-Nya saja yang terjadi. Buktinya, dengan hanya satu dua sajayang dibaptis, Gereja Perdana bertumbuh pesat dan melampaui sekian waktu dalamsejarah, hingga kini eksis bagi kita semua. Di dalam Tuhan tak ada rivalitas atau perhitungan untung rugi jumlah dankualitas. Bagi Tuhan, pokoknya ada orang yang percaya, mengikuti Dia danmenghidupi imannya itu dengan berkualitas. Jumlah kita sesungguhnya sekarangini merupakan realisasi pilihan Yesus atas kita dari dunia ini. Kita inginbertumbuh menjadi berkualitas sebagai pengikut Kristus ketika semua kebenarandiajarkan oleh Roh Kudus kepada kita. Maka terberkatilah kita semua.  Dua kecederungan manusia untuk mengejar jumlah dan kualitas seringmendatangkan persoalan tersendiri di dalam hidup kita. Mereka yang mengejarsaja jumlah bisa jadi lebih berorientasi material, jasmani, sosial dankesuksesan duniawi. Mereka yang mengejar kualitas saja bisa jadi lebih elitis,ekslusif, kurang mendarat dan tidak realistis. Maka jalan paling baik ialahkeseimbangannya, yaitu kualitas diberikan pada jumlah yang ada. Misalnya, kehadiran kita di dalam komunitas atau keluarga kurang banyak,tetapi dibuat sangat berkualitas yang membawa pengaruh yang baik bagi semuaorang. Hasil kerja banyak, tapi berikan kualitas pada kesejahteraan setiaporang dan ada sebagaian dilimpahkan kepada pelayanan kasih terhadap mereka yangmembutuhkan. Badan kurus, namun sehat. Badan tambun dan gendut, namun kerjasemangat dan rajin. Otak kurang pintar, namun bertanggung jawab. Tantangan kitabersama ialah menghadirkan selalu keseimbangan itu.Marilahkita berdoa. Dalam nama Bapa... Ya Tuhan maha murah, semoga melalui bimbinganRoh-Mu, kami menjadi pribadi-pribadi yang bijaksana dalam menyeimbangkankebutuhan-kebutuhan hidup kami antara yang menargetkan jumlah dan kualitas.Sehingga kami dapat menjadi putra-putrimu yang selalu berkenan kepada-Mu. Kemuliaankepada Bapa dan Putra dan Roh Kudus ... Dalam nama Bapa...

Delivered by Randy from the Parish Kristus Raja Andalas in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 17: 15.22 - 18: 1; Rs psalm 148: 1-2.11-12ab.12c-14a.14bcd; John 16: 12-15.QUANTITY IS IMPORTANT, BUT NOT THEONLY ONE The title for our meditation today is:Quantity Is Important, But Not The Only One. This sentence is similar to whatwe normally understand that we are not after quantity only but what alsoimportant we pursue in life is the quality. This can be applied in any context,including in the work of the Gospel announcement that the Apostle Paul and hiscompanions carried out in the Aeropagus arena in Athens.  People of that place who believed in godsrejected all the teachings of Paul about Jesus Christ. Only one or two believedand then professed their faith in Jesus Christ. It was the least achievementobtained in terms of numbers of those who came to believe in Jesus, compared toa big number in other places that he had visited. The fruits of missionary labor atAeropagus must be very disappointing for the target obtained was only very fewnumber of believers. But Paul and companions were aware that this is the workof God, everything must depend on God alone. Let His will be done. As a matterof facts, with only one or two being baptized the Early Church grew rapidly andovercame all the obstacles throughout history, until our time today we see thatthe holy Church exists for all of us. In God there is no rivalry andcalculation of profit and loss neither quantity nor quality. For the Lord,there are men and women believers who follow Him and practice their faith withquality. Our actual numbers today in the Church are the realization of Jesus'choice of us from this world. From this election, we should give our best togrow to be qualified as followers of Christ. Our qualification according toJesus is when the Holy Spirit teaches us all the truth from God. Two human tendencies that pursuequantity and quality often bring about problems in life. Those who pursue onlynumbers can be more oriented to material, physical, social or worldly gain.Those who pursue quality alone can be more inclined to be elite, exclusive,irrelevant and unrealistic. So the best way is balance, that is, to give qualityof the quantity that we have. For example, our presence in thecommunity or family is lacking in numbers, but the exsisting numbers are inhigh quality so as to give good influence on others. The fruits of our laborsare many, but their qualities are badly needed in providing well-being to allpeople concerned and some to be contributed to the needy ones. That man isthin, but he is healthy. That woman is fat and big, but she is always ready towork and do sacrifices. Her brain is very slow to grasp, but she is veryresponsible. Our common challenge  inthis sense is to have balance in quality and quantity. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O generous Lord, through the guidance of Your Spirit, may we becomewise persons in keeping balance in quantity and quality of our lives. May webecome your sons and daughters always pleasing to you. Glory to the Father andto the Son and to the Holy Spirit ... In the name of the Father ...

Paul talks to the philosophers

Paul talks to the philosophers

Too many people, even Christians, have a mistaken notion that God is distant. It's “The Big Man in the Sky” idea. Some go so far as to see God as distant and detached. Something that's know as Deism. But the God of the Bible is anything but. Yes, he is transcendent in the sense that he is “other” than us. Yet he is also immanent; close; personal. In Sunday's passage, Acts 17:16-34, the Apostle Paul finds himself in Athens in a place called the Aeropagus, meeting with the city's thinkers and philosophers. He spends considerable time there meeting with them and discussing the gospel of Jesus Christ, and he makes the statement that God is “not far from each one of us.” What a reassuring thing to know! God is close. Even in the depths of our sin and even with the sense that we might have that we are “so far from God,” yet he is right there. We'll unpack all of that from the passage this Sunday. Series: The Acts of the Apostles Todd Dugard Message: 48 – He is not far from each one of us Harvest Bible Chapel Text: Acts 17:16-34 May 12, 2024 So that people who don't yet know Jesus would come to see just how close they are to him, I must… …first, show genuine concern for their spiritual state (v. 16-21) Provoked; παροξύνομαι: to be upset at someone or something involving severe emotional concern. In some languages the expression must be rendered idiomatically as ‘his heart was eating him' or ‘his stomach was hot.' L&N 88.189 Epicureanism – materialists; what is seen is relevant; no afterlife; not atheistic, but gods are not involved with humanity; “if there's a god, why so much suffering?”; religious skeptics; value happiness and see it stemming from the absence of pain, suffering; “a good life is a pleasurable life.” Stoicism – believe in divine providence; pantheists; divinity found in all nature, matter; “divine spark” binds everything together; pursue reason, logic; high ethic; believe in self-sufficiency and a universal brotherhood. …then relate the gospel to their specific situation (v. 22-26) The gist of the speech is...thoroughly rooted in Old Testament thought throughout. The main theme is God as Creator and the proper worship of this Creator God. The language often has the ring of Greek philosophy, for Paul was attempting to build what bridges he could to reach the Athenian intellectuals. John B. Polhill …presenting Jesus as the clear alternative (v. 27-28) Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary. Dumb Quote by Someone Romans 10:14–15 …and not equivocating at all on the error of their ways (v. 29-34) The big 3 of the gospel: (1) Everyone must repent; (2) There is a coming judgment; and (3) Jesus' resurrection from the dead secures our salvation. When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind. C. S. Lewis

Dibawakan oleh Rini dan Tirto dari Komunitas Pukat Labuan Bajo, Keuskupan Ruteng, Indonesia. Kisah Para Rasul 17: 15.22 - 18: 1; Mazmur tg 148: 1-2.11-12b.12c-14a.14cd; Yohanes 16: 12-15 AEROPAGUS   Renungan kita pada hari ini bertema: Aeropagus. Kata “Aeropagus” ini disebutkan dalam peristiwa perjumpaan Paulus dengan orang-orang Atena di Yunani. Kisah Para Rasul mengisahkan bagaimana Paulus berkhotbah di atas Aeropagus, yaitu sebuah tempat publik persis di atas bukit untuk kegiatan publik, terutama pusat pengadilan tertinggi. Di situ publik Yunani kuno mendapatkan suatu kebenaran mutlak yang mengatur kehidupan mereka.   Aeropagus kalau dapat kita pahami lebih jauh merupakan satu tempat pertemuan dua jurus kebenaran. Orang-orang Yunani memiliki kebenaran dari para dewa yang kemudian diolah oleh pengetahuan dan kebijaksanaan manusia, supaya digunakan secara umum. Jurus yang lain ialah yang dibawa oleh Paulus ketika ia menghadirkan sebuah kebenaran dan kebijaksanaan Yesus Kristus, yang datang dari Allah yang esa. Di sini terjadi pertemuan antara Allah yang satu dengan illah yang banyak dalam diri para dewa sembahan orang Yunani.   Pertemuan ini dapat kita pahami sebagai sebuah konflik yang memperlihatkan gesekan pengetahuan dan keyakinan. Ini adalah suatu kompetisi ide, gagasan, argumen, dan kepandaian supernatural. Tidak ada konflik fisik di sini. Siapa yang menjadi pemenang kompetisi ini? Dari sudut pandang iman Katolik dan gerak maju misioner Gereja, pihak Paulus dan rekan-rekannya yang menang. Kebenaran dari Allah yang satu mendapatkan supremasinya.    Ini terbukti dengan ada sejumlah orang Yunani, khususnya pejabat di Aeropagus itu yang menjadi percaya lalu menyerahkan diri untuk dibaptis. Isi pengajaran dan kotbah Paulus yang sangat menggetarkan hati masyarakat Yunani ialah ini: Apa yang kamu sembah tanpa mengenalnya, itu yang kuberikan kepada kamu. Artinya para dewa yang disembah mereka tidak mereka lihat dan jumpai, itulah yang dihadirkan oleh Paulus sebagai Allah yang nyata dan hadir secara pribadi. Jadi kebenaran yang diwartakan oleh Paulus adalah nyata dan mutlak dalam diri Yesus Kristus, sementara kebenaran dari Aeropagus merupakan proses untuk mencapai kenyataan dan mutlak itu.   Yesus Kristus menjelaskan tentang kebenaran ini dengan mengatakan bahwa Roh Kudus yang diutus-Nya akan mengajarkan kita semua dalam segala kebenaran. Meski sebagai pengikut Kristus, di antara kita masih ada orang-orang yang bermental Aeropagus. Mereka kurang yakin dan belum memastikan bahwa Tuhan yang diwartakan Yesus adalah mutlak dan final. Dewa-dewa mereka masih berupa uang, kekuasaan, materi, kenikmatan, dan kesenangan. Semua ini jangan dijadikan tujuan terakhir. Sebab kalau tidak, mereka bakal tidak sampai kepada Tuhan Allah yang esa.   Marilah kita berdoa. Dalam nama Bapa... Ya Allah maha kuasa, karuniailah kami dengan kebijaksanaan-Mu yang mutlak dan baharuilah selalu hidup kami, supaya kami sungguh-sungguh menjadi saksi-saksi-Mu. Salam Maria penuh rahmat ... Dalam nama Bapa ...   --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/media-la-porta/message

Delivered by Father Peter Tukan, SDB from Salesian Don Bosco Gerak in Labuan Bajo, Diocese of Ruteng, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 17: 15.22 - 18: 1; Rs psalm 148: 1-2.11-12b.12c-14a.14cd; John 16: 12-15 AEROPAGUS   Our meditation today has the theme: Aeropagus. The word "Aeropagus" is mentioned in an incident the apostle Paul encountered with the Athenians in Greece. The Acts of the Apostles tells us how Saint Paul preached the Gospel on the Aeropagus, which was a public place right on the hill used for public activities, especially the center of the highest court. It was there that the public of ancient Greek found an absolute truth to lead their lives.   Seeing from a deeper perspective, the Aeropagus was a meeting place for the two orientations of truth. The Greeks possessed the righteousness of the gods which was then developed by human knowledge and wisdom to become a common use in the society. Whereas the faith brought by Saint Paul when he presented the truth and wisdom of Jesus Christ, who came from one God, was the perspective of truth so contradictory with the former. Here there was a meeting between the one God and the many gods in whom the Greek people put their faith.   We should consider this meeting as a conflict that demonstrated friction between knowledge or reason with faith. It was a competition of supernatural concepts, ideas, arguments, and intellect. There was no physical fighting here. Who was the winner of this fight? From the point of view of the Catholic faith and the Church's missionary work, it was Paul and his companions who won. The truth of the one God is more superior to other powers. The supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ reigns over the entire created beings.   This was proven by the fact that there was a number of Greeks, especially the important officials at the Aeropagus who became believers and then let themselves to be baptized. The content of Saint Paul's teachings which had greatly shaken the hearts of the Greek people was the following: “What you worship without knowing it, I am giving to you”. This means that the gods they indeed worshiped yet they did not see and meet them. That was what Paul presented as the real and personal God. So the truth that Paul had proclaimed was real and absolute in Jesus Christ, while the truth from the Aeropagus was still a process to reach that reality and absolute.   Jesus Christ had explained this truth by saying that the Holy Spirit that He sent will teach us in all truth. Although as followers of Christ, there are still some among us who have an Aeropagus mentality. Maybe they are not sure and have not yet confirmed that the God whom Jesus preached is absolute and final. Because their gods are still in the forms of money, power, material things, enjoyment, and pleasure. These should not be used as the last achievement in this life. If they don't follow the absolute and final truth, they will not come to the unity with one God.   Let's pray. In the name of the Father ... O God almighty, grant us with Your absolute wisdom and always renew our lives, so that we can truly become Your witnesses. Hail Mary  full of grace... In the name of the Father ... --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/media-la-porta/message

Acts 17:16-34 22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of Aeropagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. (NIV 84)

ONE BLOOD  Continuing the narrative in Acts seventeen from verse one we see that Paul and Silas and Timothy arrive at Thessalonica in the northern part of Greece, where Paul preaches in the synagogues as usual, teaching from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, and many Jews and devout Gentile Greek men and women believed. But Paul and his company encountered the usual opposition from unbelieving Jews who stirred up a rowdy mob that attacked the house of Jason, Paul's host in Thessalonica, and arrested Jason for shielding Paul whom they charged with ‘turning the world upside down' because he taught that there was another God greater than Caesar. Jason finally helps Paul escape the city and Paul and Silas and Timothy travelled to Berea where their Gospel is welcomed by the discerning Bereans who searched out and verified the Scriptures that Paul taught them – and again many devout Greeks, both men and women believed. However, the angry Jews from Thessalonica heard that Paul was preaching his Gospel again in that place and they pursued Paul and his group all the way to Berea and stirred up another rowdy mob. So Timothy and Silas helped Paul escape by sea to Athens in the southern area of Greece, and told Paul to wait for them to come to him when they could. All that troublesome threat and harassment turned out to be another providential arrangement by The Holy Spirit to get Paul to talk to the Greek philosophers in Athens who followed the teachings of the Epicureans and the Stoics. They all believed that there were gods but that the gods were merely symbolic of their preferred self-serving philosophies. The Epicureans espoused the search for happiness and pleasure and their gods were caricatures of their pleasure seeking. The Stoics on the other hand believed in detachment from Epicurean sensuality along with an indifference to pain or happiness which allowed them to focus on more important religious matters with their gods and idols. Every day Paul went out on the streets and talked with anyone who would listen about Jesus and his resurrection from the dead. Followers of both those Greek philosophies were curious about this new God of the resurrection that Paul spoke about, so they arranged for him to meet them at the Areopagus, which was an open hill area used as a court for political and religious discussion and debate. And they asked him about these strange new things he was bringing to their ears.   Paul had noticed an inscription to one of their gods that they called ‘the unknown god ‘and that god was the one that he decided to bring to their attention. Paul fully understood the Greek spirit, which was obsessed with seeking knowledge and wisdom, and he also understood their problem with their so-called gods. He knew that while they had defined and labelled gods for everything they wanted according to their philosophies and ideologies, their deepest human need to know God went totally unmet, and their unknown god had nothing to say about their self-serving beliefs and ideologies.  Paul the Greek scholar was familiar with that earnest search for God in his own mind and heart and he had come to know their so-called unknown God personally and he was able to bring those people the revelation that their unknown god was the one true God revealed in Jesus Christ. In debating with these Greek philosophers Paul sums up the history and the destiny of humanity from the very beginning of history and reveals the hidden answer to the search in every human heart which is to know God (Ecclesiastes 3:11 eternity in their hearts). He set about revealing God to them as the one who does not dwell in man-made temples, and who has no need for statues or idols, since he gives life to all living things. He revealed God as the one who is vitally interested in every human life, and who has created all people from one blood or from one created human life in Adam.  This was not the way that Paul preached to the Jews. Paul would only sum up their history from the time of Abraham and of once being slaves in Egypt and being delivered from slavery through Moses who gave them the law and the Commandments. He would tell the Jews that their promised Messiah for whom they had always been searching had arrived in the here and now in the person of Jesus Christ. He would tell them that God was in Christ forgiving them of their sin and joining them to God as a new Creation in Christ through the Holy Spirit, and the sad but happy fact was that some would believe him and become faithful followers, and some would not.  When Paul spoke to those men from Athens at the Aeropagus almost two thousand years ago he was speaking down through the ages into our world at this current time in history with its materialistic mindset and ideologies and its obsession with political and cultural and social identities that all compete for attention and prominence and power. Paul told them then as he tells us now that God has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might search for Him and find Him, for he is close to each one of us' (Acts 17:28). That means for us here today in this here and now life that we can find fulfillment in him as ‘God with us‘- Jesus, and in verse twenty nine he even quotes one of their own Greek writers who said, ‘In him we live and move and have our being, as we are his offspring. And Scripture goes on to say Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or something shaped by art and man's devising. In past times God may have tolerated man's ignorance about these things, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent from that ignorant and self-serving mindset and to put away false and imagined gods and ideologies and to believe in and worship God in Christ, and He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead. (vs 31)" Paul here presents God as the reality of all realties who now exists as the glorified person of Jesus Christ who has risen from the dead and who wants to exist and live within and through our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. It was when Paul preached the resurrection of Jesus that some mocked him. But others were open to this truth and said, ‘We will hear you again on this matter'. The Bible says that a number of faithful people became followers on that day. That is such a happy but sad reality about the acceptance and rejection of truth that we still see around us today.    Paul's words to them and to us can turn this current world upside down once more - a sovereign God is in command of our lives, no matter where we live, what we are doing or what the surrounding circumstances are, and he has a purpose and destiny for each one of us in all those things to seek and to find and to know God. Paul said – ‘we are all of one blood' - all of humanity in Adam - the entire global community of all nations and tribes and ideologies including the evils of terrorism that incite war to the death. Nonetheless as the Bible says about everyone on the earth in any and every circumstance of life that their reality of all realities is that they may search for God in the hope that they may find him ‘in God they live and move and have their being' – even when they do not know it or even want to know it. That truth must not be left in the setting of an unknown god as - it is to be declared to everyone and lived out by those who will believe that their lives are hidden with Christ in God. Is this a fantasy of Paul's – or is it indeed the reality of all realities for all people. Paul also declared in his later writings to us something further to this, that it was no longer just him that was living in God - but that it was Christ who was living through him. And this is the mystery of an unlimited God being made manifest through a weak limited human being. God once lived as pure Spirit Being in the Trinity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit in Heaven, and this pure Spirit Being was totally unlimited in all respects. But when Christ became incarnated and born from above in the person of Jesus into the earth God changed his Being from pure Spirit Being and became embodied through a limited human being in Jesus Christ who said he was ‘the fullness of the godhead bodily'. Jesus told people ‘If you have seen me you have seen the Father' then Jesus died and rose again.  And the Father and the Son then sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts as the Spirit of the glorified resurrected human Jesus so that we can believe like Paul that God lives in us as Father and Son and Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:19). We may well hunger and desire that we can live our lives through Christ but how much more must we realize that God yearns and desires to live the fulness of his Godhead life through us. It is not our limited humanity that stops God from having his Being embodied in the earth as well as in heaven. It is our unbelief that God could or would do such a thing – but, We have this treasure in earthen vessels so that the glory will be of God and not of us' (2Corinthians 4:7). Paul presents us with the reality of all realities, that by faith we can embody and impart the life and presence of God into our world around us. That is the reality sitting deeper than the material reality that we see and touch with our physical senses. We may be sitting in our car held up in traffic and that may appear to us as our frustrating or tedious reality that affects our thinking and our emotions. But there is another reality beneath that one, which is the fact that we are going somewhere with a sense of purpose, perhaps to get to work, or to meet up with other people, or to have our car serviced, or to arrive at an appointment. But the reality of all realities that lies beneath that is that we are embodying the living God, who is where we are and who desires to do what he knows will bring his will and his power and his love into the blessing of what we do. This becomes our knowable reality as we believe in the activity of his good will that graces that moment. As we share communion today we are not simply partakers of the one blood from Adam but are partakers by faith of the one blood of Jesus Christ. The cup we drink is the blood of the New Covenant that gives us new life. The bread is his body, and we can embody that truth. As we sit together in the grace of that communion moment we can realise the reality of all realities that we embody the father, Son and Holy Spirit and can bring that reality into the lives of those in our world as we go out from this place.  

Dibawakan oleh Sisilia Artati Hapsari dari Paroki Santo Markus Depok Timur, Keuskupan Bogor, Indonesia. Kisah Para Rasul 17: 15.22 - 18: 1; Mazmur tg 148: 1-3.11-12b.12c-14a.14bcd; Yohanes 16: 12-15 KITA TIDAK HANYA MENGEJAR JUMLAH   Renungan hari Rabu Pekan Paskah ke-6 ini bertemakan: Kita Tidak Hanya Mengejar Jumlah. Tepat pukul 7 pagi Pastor Paroki sudah bersiap di sakristi untuk berarak menuju altar dan Misa dapat segera dimulai. Pemimpin koor dan anggotanya merasa gelisah karena umat yang hadir baru seperempat kapasitas gereja. Mereka meminta pastor supaya sebaiknya menunggu umat lain datang baru dapat dimulai Misa kudus. Tetapi sang Pastor menjawab: "Misa tidak bergantung pada jumlah yang hadir di dalam gereja."    Sikap Pastor Paroki ini merupakan refleksi atas kenyataan di dalam pertumbuhan iman dan Gereja kita, bahwa kita tidak hanya mengejar jumlah. Kita juga sangat membutuhkan kualitas. Dalam konteks penyebaran Injil yang dilakukan Paulus dan rekan-rekannya di Athena, di arena Aeropagus, banyak sekali yang menolak semua ajaran Paulus tentang Yesus Kristus, dan hanya satu dua orang saja yang percaya. Jumlah ini sangat sedikit kalau dibandingkan dengan sejumlah daerah lain yang telah mereka kunjungi.    Kalau yang dikejar terutama ialah jumlah atau sebanyak mungkin pengikut baru, hasil ini pasti sangat mengecewakan. Namun Paulus dan rombongannya tahu bahwa ini adalah pekerjaan milik Tuhan, semuanya biar Tuhan saja yang menghendaki. Di dalam Tuhan tak ada rivalitas atau perhitungan untung rugi jumlah dan kualitas. Bagi Tuhan, pokoknya ada orang yang percaya, mengikuti Dia dan menghidupi imannya itu dengan berkualitas. Jumlah yang ada sekarang ini merupakan realisasi pilihan Yesus atas kita dari dunia ini. Kualitas hidup kita sangat bergantung pada kemampuan kita hidup dalam terang dan bimbingan Roh Kudus. Bersama Roh Kudus, kita memiliki tempat di dalam Yesus Kristus.   Dua kecenderungan manusia untuk mengejar jumlah dan kualitas sering mendatangkan masalah. Mereka yang mengejar jumlah saja bisa jadi lebih berambisi material, jasmani, sosial dan kesuksesan duniawi. Mereka yang mengejar kualitas saja bisa jadi lebih elitis, eksklusif, kurang mendarat dan tidak realistis. Maka jalan paling baik ialah keseimbangannya, yaitu jumlah kita perlukan sekaligus kita berikan kualitas pada jumlah yang ada.    Misalnya, kehadiran kita di dalam komunitas atau keluarga kurang banyak, tetapi dari kehadiran yang hanya sedikit itu dibuat sangat berkualitas yang membawa pengaruh yang baik dan sehat. Kalau Anda berkecukupan rezeki, hendaknya kualitas kesejahteraan hidup lebih diperhatikan dan bermurah hati kepada orang lain yang kurang beruntung. Anda mungkin bertubuh kurus, namun kesehatan harus baik. Anda kurang pintar, namun bertanggung jawab. Kita wajib membuat keseimbangan hidup agar Tuhan berkenan kepada kita.   Marilah kita berdoa. Dalam nama Bapa... Ya Tuhan maha murah, semoga melalui bimbingan Roh-Mu, kami menjadi pribadi-pribadi yang bijaksana dalam membuat hidup kami seimbang jasmani dan rohani, sehingga hidup kami berkenan kepada-Mu dan sesama kami. Kemuliaan kepada Bapa dan Putra ... Dalam nama Bapa... --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/media-la-porta/message

Delivered by Father Peter Tukan, SDB from Salesian Don Bosco Gerak, in Labuan Bajo, Diocese of Ruteng, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 17: 15.22 - 18: 1; Rs psalm 148: 1-3.11-12b.12c-14a.14bcd; John 16: 12-1 WE ARE NOT ONLY AFTER QUANTITY   Our meditation today has the theme: We Are Not Only After Quantity. At 7 am the Parish Priest was ready in the sacristy to proceed to the altar and the Holy Mass would soon start. The choir leader and members were anxious because the people present were only a quarter of the church's capacity. They asked the priest to wait for other people to come before the Holy Mass could begin. But the Pastor answered: "The Mass does not depend on the number of people present in the church."   What the Parish Priest did is something that can serve as a reflection of the the growth of our faith and our being a Church, that we are not only after the quantity or numbers. We also really need quality. In the context of the preaching of the gospel by Saint Paul and his companions in Athens, in the arena of Aeropagus, many rejected all Paul's teachings about Jesus Christ, and only one or two who accepted and became believers. This is a very small quantity when it is compared with a number of places they had visited and evangelized.   If the main target is number or as many new followers as possible, this outcome in Athens would be so disappointing. But Paul and his group knew that this was the work of God, and should be depended on God's will to be done. In God, there is no competition on calculation of the profit and loss between quantity and quality. For God, there is one thing that is fundamental, namely people who believe, who follow Him and live their faith with quality. The actual number now in the Church is a realization of Jesus' choice to make us a people separated from this world. The quality of our lives is very dependent on our ability to live in the light and guidance of the Holy Spirit. With the Holy Spirit, we have a specific place in Jesus Christ.   There are two human tendencies for pursuing quantity and quality often cause us problems. Those who pursue numbers can be more favorable for material, physical, social and success gain. Those who pursue quality can be more elitist, exclusive, irrelevant and unrealistic. So the best way for us would be to have a balance, which is the quantity we deserve and at the same time we give quality to the quantity that we have.   For example, our presence in the community or family is so little, but we should spend it with the best quality that can contribute to the good impact for all. If you have enough money and goods, you should pay more attention to the quality of life and be generous to other people who are less fortunate. You may be thin, but your health must be good. You are less smart, but you are responsible. We must make a balance of life as a way to thank and glorify our Lord.   Let's pray. In the name of the Father ... O Lord, through the guidance of Your Spirit, may we become wise persons in making our lives balance physically and spiritually, so that our lives are pleasing to You and our neighbors. Glory to the Father ... In the name of the Father ...   --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/media-la-porta/message

Why is Jesus good news for you and for the world? As we hear the gospel proclaimed in a synagogue in Thessalonica and the Aeropagus in Athens, we hear how good Jesus is. Outline Jesus is the Messiah (vv1-15) Jesus is the Judge of the World (vv16-34) The God who Saves

Dibawakan oleh Rini Sudarno dan Amsi Wawinto dari Gereja Santo Ambrosius, Paroki Villa Melati Mas, Keuskupan Agung Jakarta. Kisah Para Rasul 17: 15.22 - 18: 1; Mazmur tg 148: 1-2.11-12b.12c-14a.14bcd; Yohanes 16: 12-15 JUMLAH PENTING, TAPI BUKAN SATU-SATUNYA Tema renungan kita pada hari ini ialah: Jumlah Penting, Tapi Bukan Satu-Satunya. Sebutan lain untuk kalimat ini ialah jangan mengejar saja jumlah atau kuantitas, karena yang juga penting ialah kualitas atau mutu. Ini dapat diterapkan dalam konteks apa saja, termasuk dalam kisah penyebaran Injil yang dilakukan Paulus dan rekan-rekannya di Athena, di arena Aeropagus. Orang-orang yang percaya pada dewa-dewa itu menolak semua ajaran Paulus tentang Yesus Kristus, dan hanya sedikit saja yang percaya. Suatu pencapaian yang sangat minim dari segi jumlah, dibandingkan dengan sejumlah daerah lain yang telah dikunjunginya. Kalau yang dikejar terutama ialah jumlah atau sebanyak mungkin pengikut baru, hasil ini pasti sangat mengecewakan. Namun Paulus dan rombongannya tahu bahwa ini adalah pekerjaannya Tuhan, dengan semuanya terserah Tuhan saja. Biarkanlah kehendak-Nya saja yang terjadi. Buktinya, dengan hanya satu dua saja yang dibaptis, Gereja Perdana bertumbuh pesat dan melampaui sekian waktu dalam sejarah, hingga kini eksis bagi kita semua. Di dalam Tuhan tak ada rivalitas atau perhitungan untung rugi jumlah dan kualitas. Bagi Tuhan, pokoknya ada orang yang percaya, mengikuti Dia dan menghidupi imannya itu dengan berkualitas. Jumlah kita nyata sekarang ini merupakan realisasi pilihan Yesus atas kita dari dunia ini. Kita ingin bertumbuh menjadi berkualitas sebagai pengikut Kristus ketika semua kebenaran diajarkan oleh Roh Kudus kepada kita. Maka terberkatilah kita semua. Dua kecenderungan manusia mengejar jumlah dan kualitas sering mendatangkan persoalan tersendiri di dalam hidup. Bagi yang mengejar saja jumlah bisa jadi lebih berambisi material, jasmani, sosial dan duniawi. Mereka yang mengejar kualitas saja bisa jadi lebih elitis, eksklusif, kurang mendarat dan tidak realistis. Maka jalan paling baik ialah keseimbangannya, yaitu kualitas diberikan pada jumlah yang ada. Misalnya, kehadiran kita di dalam komunitas atau keluarga kurang banyak, tetapi dibuat sangat berkualitas yang membawa pengaruh yang baik bagi semua orang. Hasil kerja banyak, tapi berikan kualitas pada kesejahteraan setiap orang dan ada sebagian dilimpahkan kepada pelayanan kasih terhadap mereka yang membutuhkan. Badan kurus, namun sehat. Badan tambun dan gendut, namun kerja semangat dan rajin. Otak kurang pintar, namun bertanggung jawab. Tantangan kita bersama ialah menghadirkan selalu keseimbangan itu. Marilah kita berdoa. Dalam nama Bapa... Ya Tuhan maha murah, semoga melalui bimbingan Roh-Mu, kami menjadi pribadi-pribadi yang bijaksana dalam menyeimbangkan kebutuhan-kebutuhan hidup kami antara yang menargetkan jumlah dan kualitas. Sehingga kami dapat menjadi putra-putrimu yang selalu berkenan kepada-Mu. Kemuliaan ... Dalam nama Bapa... --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/media-la-porta/message

Delivered by Father Peter Tukan, SDB from Salesian Community in Labuan Bajo, Diocese of Ruteng, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 17: 15.22 - 18: 1; Rs psalm 148: 1-2.11-12b.12c-14a.14bcd; John 16: 12-15 QUANTITY IS IMPORTANT, BUT NOT THE ONLY ONE The theme for our meditation today is: Quantity Is Important, But Not The Only One. Another expression for this sentence is we are not after quantity only but what also important we pursue in life is the quality. This can be applied in any context, including in the story of the proclamation of the Gospel carried out by Paul and his companions in Athens, in the Aeropagus arena. People of that place who believed in gods rejected all of Paul's teachings about Jesus Christ. Only one or two did believe. It was the least achievement obtained in terms of numbers of those who came to believe in Jesus, compared to a number of other areas that he had visited. If what pursued was mainly the numbers or as many new followers as possible, the result achieved at Aeropagus must be very disappointing. But Paul and companions were aware that this was God's work, everything was up to God. Let His will be happened. As a proof, with only one or two being baptized, the Early Church grew rapidly and overcame all the obstacles throughout history, until our time now as the Church exists for all of us. In God there is no rivalry or calculation of profit and loss in quantity and quality. For God, there are men and women who believe, who follow Him and who live their faith with quality. Our real numbers today in the Church are the realization of Jesus' choice of us from this world. We want to grow to be qualified followers of Christ as all truth is taught to us by the Holy Spirit. So we are all blessed. Two human tendencies to pursue quantity and quality often bring about problems in life. Those who pursue only numbers can be more oriented to material ambitions and physical, social or worldly gain. Those who pursue quality alone can be more inclined to be elite, exclusive, irrelevant and unrealistic. So the best way is balance, that is, quality for the quantity that we have. For example, our presence in the community or family is lacking in numbers, but the exsisting numbers are in high quality so as to give good influence on others. The fruits of our labors are many, but their qualities are badly needed in providing well-being to all people concerned and some to be contributed to the needy ones. He is thin, but healthy. Her body is fat and big, but is ready to work and do sacrifices. Her brain is very slow to grasp, but she is very responsible. Our common challenge in this sense is to have balance in quality and quantity. Let's pray. In the name of the Father ... O generous Lord, through the guidance of Your Spirit, may we become wise persons in keeping balance of quantity and quality of our lives. May we become your sons and daughters always pleasing to you. Glory to the Father ... In the name of the Father ... --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/media-la-porta/message

Today. He’s commanding you to repent. I don’t say that feeling super-Holy-Spirit-inspired, I got a word from the Lord, I’m saying that knowing that His command for repentance for whatever sin that you might be ignoring was a command issued the day it first happened. So today, He’s commanding you to repent.

Paul's speech on Mar's Hill before the Aeropagus or Greek High Court was brilliantly crafted. It was launched as we saw last time from his observation that there was in Athens a monument “to the unknown god”. Paul in his speech directly addressed that by stating simply and clearly that he would reveal the one true but “knowable” God in contrast. He had an objective in all of this. The reference to Greek poets underscored how even the ancient Greeks knew something about God through his creation and sustenance of all things. So he uses this as the basis of what he considers foundational, that all are without excuse as Romans 1 indicates. For God has established a day for the judgment and the implications of this are astounding. And this is the central point he now wished to make, that our Lord Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead proving that he is that judge indeed. At this point, his presentation was terminated, however, and the session before the high court ended. Though he did not preach the whole gospel here, some however cleaved to him and followed him out became believers. Praise God for always sufficient grace!

Reading is delivered by Callista Leo and meditation delivered by Ezea Siregar, from Saint Peter's School in Jakarta, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 17: 15. 22-18:1; Rs psalm 148: 1-2.11-12b.12c-14a.14bcd; John 16: 12-15 AEROPAGUS Our meditation today has the theme: Aeropagus. The word "Aeropagus" is mentioned in an incident the apostle Paul encountered with the Athenians in Greece. The Acts of the Apostles tell us how Saint Paul preached the Gospel on the Aeropagus, which was a public place right on the hill used for public activities, especially the center of the highest court. It was there that the public of ancient Greek found an absolute truth to govern their lives. Seeing from a deeper perspective, the Aeropagus was a meeting place for the two orientations of truth. The Greeks possessed the righteousness of the gods which was then developed by human knowledge and wisdom to become a common use in the society. Whereas, the faith brought by Saint Paul when he presented the truth and wisdom of Jesus Christ, who came from one God, was the perspective of truth so contradictory with the former. Here there was a meeting between the one God and the many gods in whom the Greek people put their faith. We should consider this meeting as a conflict that demonstrated friction between knowledge or reason with faith. It was a competition of supernatural concepts, ideas, arguments, and intellect. There was no physical fighting here. Who was the winner of this fight? From the point of view of the Catholic faith and the Church's missionary work, it was Paul and his companions who won. The truth of the one God is more superior to other powers. The supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ reigns over the entire created beings. This was proven by the fact that there was a number of Greeks, especially the important officials at the Aeropagus who became believers and then let themselves to be baptized. The content of Saint Paul's teachings which had greatly shaken the hearts of the Greek people was the following: “What you worship without knowing it, I am giving to you”. This means that the gods they indeed worshiped yet they did not see and meet them. That was what Paul presented as the real and personal God. So the truth that Paul had proclaimed was real and absolute in Jesus Christ, while the truth from the Aeropagus was still a process to reach that reality and absolute. Jesus Christ had explained this truth by saying that the Holy Spirit that He sent will teach us in all truth. Although as followers of Christ, there are still some among us who have an Aeropagus mentality. Maybe they are not sure and have not yet confirmed that the God whom Jesus preached is absolute and final. Because their gods are still in the forms of money, power, material things, enjoyment and pleasure. These should not be used as the last achievement in this life. If they don't follow the absolute and final truth, they will not come to the unity with one God. Let's pray. In the name of the Father ... O God almighty, grant us with Your absolute wisdom and always renew our lives, so that we can truly become Your witnesses. Hail Mary full of grace... In the name of the Father ... --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/media-la-porta/message

Bacaan dibawakan oleh Brenda Christie dan renungan dibawakan oleh Lilis Aroyani, umat Gereja St. Yohanes Bosco, Paroki Danau Sunter, Keuskupan Agung Jakarta. Kisah Para Rasul 17: 15.22-18:1; Mazmur tg 148: 1-2.11-12b.12c-14a.14bcd; Yohanes 16: 12-15. AEROPAGUS Renungan kita pada hari ini bertema: Aeropagus. Kata “Aeropagus” ini disebutkan dalam peristiwa perjumpaan Paulus dengan orang-orang Atena di Yunani. Kisah Para Rasul mengisahkan bagaimana Paulus berkhotbah di atas Aeropagus, yaitu sebuah tempat publik persis di atas bukit untuk kegiatan publik, terutama pusat pengadilan tertinggi. Di situ publik Yunani kuno mendapatkan suatu kebenaran mutlak yang mengatur kehidupan mereka. Aeropagus kalau dapat kita pahami lebih jauh merupakan satu tempat pertemuan dua jurus kebenaran. Orang-orang Yunani memiliki kebenaran dari para dewa yang kemudian diolah oleh pengetahuan dan kebijaksanaan manusia, supaya digunakan secara umum. Jurus yang lain ialah yang dibawa oleh Paulus ketika ia menghadirkan sebuah kebenaran dan kebijaksanaan Yesus Kristus, yang datang dari Allah yang esa. Di sini terjadi pertemuan antara Allah yang satu dengan allah yang banyak dalam diri para dewa sembahan orang Yunani. Pertemuan ini dapat kita pahami sebagai sebuah konflik yang memperlihatkan gesekan pengetahuan dan keyakinan. Ini adalah suatu kompetisi ide, gagasan, argumen, dan kepandaian supernatural. Tidak ada konflik fisik di sini. Siapa yang menjadi pemenang kompetisi ini? Dari sudut pandang iman Katolik dan gerak maju misioner Gereja, pihak Paulus dan rekan-rekannya yang menang. Kebenaran dari Allah yang satu mendapatkan supremasinya. Ini terbukti dengan ada sejumlah orang Yunani, khususnya pejabat di Aeropagus itu yang menjadi percaya lalu menyerahkan diri untuk dibaptis. Isi pengajaran dan kotbah Paulus yang sangat menggetarkan hati masyarakat Yunani ialah ini: Apa yang kamu sembah tanpa mengenalnya, itu yang kuberikan kepada kamu. Artinya para dewa yang disembah mereka tidak mereka lihat dan jumpai, itulah yang dihadirkan oleh Paulus sebagai Allah yang nyata dan hadir secara pribadi. Jadi kebenaran yang diwartakan oleh Paulus adalah nyata dan mutlak dalam diri Yesus Kristus, sementara kebenaran dari Aeropagus merupakan proses untuk mencapai kenyataan dan mutlak itu. Yesus Kristus menjelaskan tentang kebenaran ini dengan mengatakan bahwa Roh Kudus yang diutus-Nya akan mengajarkan kita semua dalam segala kebenaran. Meski sebagai pengikut Kristus, di antara kita masih ada orang-orang yang bermental Aeropagus. Mereka kurang yakin dan belum memastikan bahwa Tuhan yang diwartakan Yesus adalah mutlak dan final. Dewa-dewa mereka masih berupa uang, kekuasaan, materi, kenikmatan, dan kesenangan. Semua ini jangan dijadikan tujuan terakhir. Sebab kalau tidak, mereka bakal tidak sampai kepada Tuhan Allah yang esa. Marilah kita berdoa. Dalam nama Bapa... Ya Allah maha kuasa, karuniailah kami dengan kebijaksanaan-Mu yang mutlak dan baharuilah selalu hidup kami, supaya kami sungguh-sungguh menjadi saksi-saksi-Mu. Salam Maria... Dalam nama Bapa ... --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/media-la-porta/message

Paul and Barnabas part company; Paul selects Timothy; Paul and Silas in prison; A midnight deliverance; An official apology; Riot in the city; The Bereans search the scriptures; Paul in Athens; Paul's Aeropagus address

Reading by Wilson Tan and meditation by Suzanne Marie Gerodias WE ARE NOT ONLY AFTER QUANTITY Our meditation today has the theme: We Are Not Only After Quantity. At 7 am the Parish Priest was ready in the sacristy to proceed to the altar and the Holy Mass would soon start. The choir leader and members were anxious because the people present were only a quarter of the church's capacity. They asked the priest to wait for other people to come before the Holy Mass could begin. But the Pastor answered: "The Mass does not depend on the number of people present in the church." What the Parish Priest did is something that can serve as a reflection of the the growth of our faith and our being a Church, that we are not only after the quantity or numbers. We also really need quality. In the context of the preaching of the gospel by Saint Paul and his companions in Athens, in the arena of Aeropagus, many rejected all Paul's teachings about Jesus Christ, and only one or two who accepted and became believers. This is a very small quantity when it is compared with a number of places they had visited and evangelized. If the main target is number or as many new followers as possible, this outcome in Athens would be so disappointing. But Paul and his group knew that this was the work of God, and should be depended on God's will to be done. In God, there is no competition on calculation of the profit and loss between quantity and quality. For God, there is one thing that is fundamental, namely people who believe, who follow Him and live their faith with quality. The actual number now in the Church is a realization of Jesus' choice to makes us a people separated from this world. The quality of our lives is very dependent on our ability to live in the light and guidance of the Holy Spirit. With the Holy Spirit, we have a specific place in Jesus Christ. There are two human tendencies for pursuing quantity and quality often cause us problems. Those who pursue numbers can be more favorable for material, physical, social and success gain. Those who pursue quality can be more elitist, exclusive, irrelevant and unrealistic. So the best way for us would be to have a balance, which is the quantity we deserve and at the same time we give quality to the quantity that we have. For example, our presence in the community or family is so little, but we should spend it with the best quality that can contribute to the good impact for all. If you have enough money and goods, you should pay more attention to the quality of life and be generous to other people who are less fortunate. You may be thin, but your health must be good. You are less smart, but you are responsible. We must make a balance of life as a way to thank and glorify our Lord. Let's pray. In the name of the Father ... O Lord, through the guidance of Your Spirit, may we become wise persons in making our lives balance physically and spiritually, so that our lives are pleasing to You and our neighbors. Glory to the Father ... In the name of the Father ... --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/media-la-porta/message

Bacaan oleh Gemma GYH dan renungan oleh Paulus Endon KITA TIDAK HANYA MENGEJAR JUMLAH Renungan hari Rabu Pekan Paskah ke-6 ini bertemakan: Kita Tidak Hanya Mengejar Jumlah. Tepat pukul 7 pagi Pastor Paroki sudah bersiap di sakristi untuk berarak menuju altar dan Misa dapat segera dimulai. Pemimpin koor dan anggotanya merasa gelisah karena umat yang hadir baru seperempat kapasitas gereja. Mereka meminta pastor supaya sebaiknya menunggu umat lain datang baru dapat dimulai Misa kudus. Tetapi sang Pastor menjawab: "Misa tidak bergantung pada jumlah yang hadir di dalam gereja." Sikap Pastor Paroki ini merupakan refleksi atas kenyataan di dalam pertumbuhan iman dan Gereja kita, bahwa kita tidak hanya mengejar jumlah. Kita juga sangat membutuhkan kualitas. Dalam konteks penyebaran Injil yang dilakukan Paulus dan rekan-rekannya di Athena, di arena Aeropagus, banyak sekali yang menolak semua ajaran Paulus tentang Yesus Kristus, dan hanya satu dua orang saja yang percaya. Jumlah ini sangat sedikit kalau dibandingkan dengan sejumlah daerah lain yang telah mereka kunjungi. Kalau yang dikejar terutama ialah jumlah atau sebanyak mungkin pengikut baru, hasil ini pasti sangat mengecewakan. Namun Paulus dan rombongannya tahu bahwa ini adalah pekerjaan milik Tuhan, semuanya biar Tuhan saja yang menghendaki. Di dalam Tuhan tak ada rivalitas atau perhitungan untung rugi jumlah dan kualitas. Bagi Tuhan, pokoknya ada orang yang percaya, mengikuti Dia dan menghidupi imannya itu dengan berkualitas. Jumlah yang ada sekarang ini merupakan realisasi pilihan Yesus atas kita dari dunia ini. Kualitas hidup kita sangat bergantung pada kemampuan kita hidup dalam terang dan bimbingan Roh Kudus. Bersama Roh Kudus, kita memiliki tempat di dalam Yesus Kristus. Dua kecenderungan manusia untuk mengejar jumlah dan kualitas sering mendatangkan masalah. Mereka yang mengejar jumlah saja bisa jadi lebih berambisi material, jasmani, sosial dan kesuksesan duniawi. Mereka yang mengejar kualitas saja bisa jadi lebih elitis, eksklusif, kurang mendarat dan tidak realistis. Maka jalan paling baik ialah keseimbangannya, yaitu jumlah kita perlukan sekaligus kita berikan kualitas pada jumlah yang ada. Misalnya, kehadiran kita di dalam komunitas atau keluarga kurang banyak, tetapi dari kehadiran yang hanya sedikit itu dibuat sangat berkualitas yang membawa pengaruh yang baik dan sehat. Kalau Anda berkecukupan rezeki, hendaknya kualitas kesejahteraan hidup lebih diperhatikan dan bermurah hati kepada orang lain yang kurang beruntung. Anda mungkin bertubuh kurus, namun kesehatan harus baik. Anda kurang pintar, namun bertanggung jawab. Kita wajib membuat keseimbangan hidup agar Tuhan berkenan kepada kita. Marilah kita berdoa. Dalam nama Bapa... Ya Tuhan maha murah, semoga melalui bimbingan Roh-Mu, kami menjadi pribadi-pribadi yang bijaksana dalam membuat hidup kami seimbang jasmani dan rohani, sehingga hidup kami berkenan kepada-Mu dan sesama kami. Kemuliaan kepada... Dalam nama Bapa... --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/media-la-porta/message

Today's Bible reading is Genesis 18, Nehemiah 7, Matthew 17 and Acts 17. Once again, we are faced with several thick and significant scriptural passages: Genesis 18 features three 'men' visiting Abraham and Sarah, one of whom is God Himself. It also features an incredible intercessory conversation between God and Abraham about the fate of Sodom. In Matthew 17, we see The Transfiguration of Jesus and His meeting with Moses and Elijah high atop a mountain. And in Nehemiah, well - we have an incredibly long list of Hebrew names, and I'm sure I'll butcher several of them, but especially Nephishesim and Pochereth-hazzebaim. Our featured chapter today is going to be Acts 17, because it is strongly focused on the resurrection, and I think the resurrection is the central event of our faith, and there's literally nothing I enjoy more than talking about the resurrection and rational reasons to believe that the resurrection of Jesus was a literal, historical event. If that interests you too, then you might check out my book, Easter Fact or Fiction: 20 Reasons to Believe that Jesus Factually Rose from the Dead. (CLICK HERE) And yes, this podcast is absolutely my secret method for becoming the next Bill Gates 99 cents at a time by luring you into buying my books on Amazon! Great passage, Acts 17 - so many wonderful episodes here. I would be remiss not to mention the Bereans, who eagerly received God's Word through Paul AND searched the Word of God to confirm the teachings of Paul. For this response, Paul commends them as 'of more noble character" than the Thessalonians. Many online ministries, often called 'discernment ministries,' have sought to emulate these Noble Bereans by evaluating the teaching of many Bible teachers, and judging whether or not that teaching lines up with the Bible. That's great, to a degree. As a pastor, I want the people in our church to search the Scriptures, know the Scriptures, follow the Scriptures, and measure my teaching against the Scriptures. Discernment is wonderful and biblical. But - the Bereans EAGERLY heard the Word. They did not have the posture of professional critics. They weren't hanging on Paul's words to judge them and then go and post on their blog all the errors they perceived. They eagerly listened and then confirmed the truth of Paul's preaching with the Word. Not as professional critics, but as eager listeners who valued the Word of God. The Body of Christ does not need people who's sole purpose is to attack and tear down other ministries. People who spend all their time criticizing may not realize it, but they will slowly become monsters worse than those they criticize. When you set yourself up as the judge and arbiter of all that is biblically orthodox, you are assuming a position for yourself that is not really available in Christianity. So - yes! Call people passionately to biblical truth, but take care that you do not yourself violate God's commands on HOW to do so, and take care that you do not become a professional or hobbyist criticizer. Rather, be an encourager and an exhorter. The world is already overpopulated with critics. We need faithful biblical truth holders who walk in uncompromising doctrinal truth AND uncompromising humility and gentle love. /Soap box In Acts 17, we see Paul bring up the resurrection of Jesus 3 times in three different circumstances: To the people of Thessalonica, the to the men of Athens, and during his message at the Aeropagus. In all three instances, we see how crucial and central the message of the resurrection is: 2 As usual, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and rise from the dead: “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah. Acts 17:2-3 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who worshiped God, as well as in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some said, “What is this ignorant show-off trying to say?” Others replied, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities”—because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. Acts 17:17-18 29 Since we are God's offspring then, we shouldn't think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination. 30 “Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:29-31 Very little of what Paul proclaims is mentioned, but in every case, he keeps pointing back to this one central and massive truth: Jesus Christ died and was raised from the dead. This is the very center of the Christian faith - the central truth and the primary claim that everything else radiates out from. In 1 Corinthians 15 (THE resurrection chapter) we see that the entirety of Christianity falls down without the resurrection: Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. 15 Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ—whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. 19 If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone. 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 Did you catch that? If Christians are just following Jesus because He offers comfort, or because He is a good moral teacher, or something like that, then they are to be pitied more than anyone. There are many churches and denominations in the world that have drifted so far from the Bible that they have essentially humanized Jesus. Despite the fact that the message from the earliest days of the first century Christian church has been Christ crucified and raised from the dead, some church going people think that the miracles in the Bible are myths, legends, and exaggerations. They teach that the real miracle of the Feeding of the Five Thousand was that Jesus taught people to share. They teach that Jesus didn't walk on water, but that he walked on a shallow, slightly underwater shoal. They teach that Jesus didn't truly rise from the dead, but that He somehow lives on in the hearts and memories of His followers, with His natural body dying and decaying. Hogwash, all of that! Paul says that this type of attitude - a resurrectionless Christianity - is the most pitiful thing in the entire world, and I couldn't agree more! Over and over again in Acts, we have seen the earliest apostles and teachers proclaim this one primary truth: Jesus rose from the dead. Christian - let that be the center of your proclamation of the good news as well. In this is hope, in this is truth, in this is the good news to a lost and dying world! This Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through him, just as you yourselves know. 23 Though he was delivered up according to God's determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him. 24 God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death. Acts 17:22-24 Top Twenty Quotes on the Resurrection of Jesus (From Spiritual Giants like Spurgeon, Lewis and more!) In no particular order... The New Testament writers speak as if Christ's achievement in rising from the dead was the first event of its kind in the whole history of the universe. He is the ‘first fruits', the ‘pioneer of life'. He has forced open a door that has been locked since the death of the first man. He has met, fought, and beaten the King of Death. Everything is different because He has done so. This is the beginning of the New Creation: a new chapter in cosmic history has opened. C. S. Lewis, A Year with C. S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works, ed. Patricia S. Klein, 1st ed. (New York: HarperOne, 2003), 172. He died, but he vanquished death; in himself he put an end to what we feared; he took it upon himself and he vanquished it, as a mighty hunter he captured and slew the lion. Where is death? Seek it in Christ, for it exists no longer; but it did exist and now it is dead. O life, O death of death! Be of good heart; it will die in us, also. What has taken place in our head will take place in his members; death will die in us also. But when? At the end of the world, at the resurrection of the dead in which we believe and concerning which we do not doubt. Augustine - 300s-400s AD: Thomas C. Oden and Christopher A. Hall, eds., Mark, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 244–245. The whole system of Christianity rests upon the fact that “Christ is risen from the dead;” for, “If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain: ye are yet in your sins.” The divinity of Christ finds its surest proof in his resurrection, since he was “Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” It would not be unreasonable to doubt his Deity if he had not risen. Moreover, Christ's sovereignty depends upon his resurrection, “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.” Again, our justification, that choice blessing of the covenant, is linked with Christ's triumphant victory over death and the grave; for “He was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” Nay, more, our very regeneration is connected with his resurrection, for we are “Begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” And most certainly our ultimate resurrection rests here, for, “If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” If Christ be not risen, then shall we not rise; but if he be risen then they who are asleep in Christ have not perished, but in their flesh shall surely behold their God. Thus, the silver thread of resurrection runs through all the believer's blessings, from his regeneration onwards to his eternal glory, and binds them together. C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening: Daily Readings (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896). And if death was formerly strong, and on that account an object of terror, but now after the sojourn of the Saviour, and the death and resurrection of His body, it is evident that it is by the very Christ who ascended the cross that death has been brought to naught and vanquished. Athanasius of Alexandria, Athanasius: On the Incarnation of the Word of God, trans. T. Herbert Bindley, Second Edition Revised. (London: The Religious Tract Society, 1903), 95. I want you to notice that this evidence was all the better, because they themselves evidently remained the same men as they had been. “They were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit”; and thus they did exactly what they had done long before when he came to them walking on the waters. In the interval between his death and his appearing, no change has come over them. Nothing has happened to them to elevate them as yet out of their littleness of mind. The Holy Spirit was not yet given, and therefore all that they had heard at the Last Supper, and seen in Gethsemane, and at the cross had not yet exercised its full influence upon them: they were still childish and unbelieving. The same men, then, are looking at the same person, and they are in their ordinary condition; this argues strongly for the correctness of their identification of their well-beloved Lord. They are not carried away by enthusiasm, nor wafted aloft by fanaticism; they are not even as yet upborne by the Holy Spirit into an unusual state of mind, but they are as slow of heart and as fearful as ever they were. If they are convinced that Jesus has risen from the dead, depend upon it, it must be so. If they go forth to tell the tidings of his resurrection, and to yield up their lives for it, you may be sure that their witness is true, for they are not the sort of men to be deceived C. H. Spurgeon, “The First Appearance of the Risen Lord to the Eleven,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 33 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1887), 220. Now Paul is laying a foundation here that, if we're not careful, can seem pretty elementary to us. Okay, Jesus rose from the dead, and we can almost read these verses with a ho-hum sense of monotony, thinking, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, I know that.” But think about that. Because there's nothing ho-hum about that. We're talking about a man who died, who died a violent death, the most violent death conceivable in that day. And then, after three days dead, He came to life and appeared to people. Can you imagine going to somebody's funeral, going to their burial, seeing their dead body placed in the ground. And then a week later that person physically walking up to you and saying, “Hello.” That's crazy! It's crazy good; it's the greatest news in all the world: Death has been defeated! May this never be ho-hum for us. May we never forget that the reason we gather together every Sunday is not to hear this pastor or that pastor preach. The reason we gather together every Sunday is because for the last 2000 years, Christians have come together on the first day of the week to remember that Jesus has risen from the dead, and He is alive! David Platt, “The Church at Brook Hills—Part 2,” in David Platt Sermon Archive (Birmingham, AL: David Platt, 2014), 4522–4523. He has changed sunset into sunrise, and through the cross brought death to life; and having wrenched man from destruction, He has raised him to the skies, transplanting mortality into immortality, and translating earth to heaven. Clement of Alexandria 100s-200s AD: Elliot Ritzema, 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Early Church, Pastorum Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013). Wherefore he is also said to be “firstborn from the dead,” not because he died before us, since we died first, but because he suffered death for us and abolished it, and therefore, as man, was the first to rise, raising his own body for our sakes. Therefore, since he has risen, we too shall rise from the dead from him and through him. Athanasius 200s-300s AD: William C. Weinrich, ed., Revelation, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 5. Actually he conquered death by his resurrection. This was the day of grace's triumph: this day he showed to heaven, to hell, and to earth, that death was conquerable; yea, that this personal death was actually overcome. The blessed souls beheld it to their joy, beholding in the resurrection of their Head, a virtual resurrection of their own bodies. The devils saw it, and therefore saw that they had no hopes of holding the bodies of the saints in the power of the grave. The damned souls were acquainted with it, and therefore knew that their sinful bodies must be restored to bear their part in suffering. The believing saints on earth perceive it, and therefore see that their bonds are broken, and that to the righteous there is hope in death; and that our head being actually risen, assureth us that we shall also rise. “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him:” (1 Thess. 4:14:) and as “Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over him;” (Rom. 6:9;) so shall we rise and die no more. This was the beginning of the church's triumph. “This is the day that the Lord hath made, (even the day which the church on earth must celebrate with joy and praise, till the day of our resurrection;) we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24.) The resurrection of our Lord hath, 1st, assured us of the consummation of his satisfaction; 2d, of the truth of all his word, and so of his promises of our resurrection; 3d, that death is actually conquered, and a resurrection possible; 4th, that believers shall certainly rise when their head and Saviour is risen to prepare them an everlasting kingdom, and to assure them that thus he will raise them at the last. A bare promise would not have been so strong a help to faith, as to the actual rising of Christ, as a pledge of the performance. “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept:” (1 Cor. 15:20:) “for because he liveth, we shall live also.” (John 14:19.) Richard Baxter and William Orme, The Practical Works of the Rev. Richard Baxter, vol. 17 (London: James Duncan, 1830), 538–539. We are more than conquerors over death through Christ. God gives us the victory over death. But more than victory. Death is defeated by Jesus. He is bound in the chains of resurrection power so that he cannot destroy us. But more than that. More than that! Death is handed over, bound and defeated, as a servant to the church. We are more than conquerors because death is not just defeated and kept from destroying us; it is enslaved and made the servant of God's people... So death is your servant. The enemy is defeated, bound, enslaved, and delivered into the service of the saints.So it was not naïve romanticizing when Zeke Rudolf called death sweet names. It was not immature glamorizing or embellishing of death when Andrew Rivet said that he had learned more truth about God during ten days in the valley of death than in fifty years of study. Defeated death had become their servant. The terrible enemy had become the tutor of heaven. So it is with the enemies of God. Even in their destruction they are made to serve the saints. John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (1990–1999) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2007). Everywhere deceit recoils upon itself and against its will supports the truth. Observe: It was necessary to believe that he died, and that he rose again, and that he was buried and that all these things were brought to pass by his enemies. Note, at any rate, these words bearing witness to every one of these facts. “We remember that that deceiver said, when he was yet alive” (he was therefore now dead), “ ‘After three days I rise again.' Command therefore that the sepulcher be sealed” (he was therefore buried), “lest his disciples come and steal him away.” Since the sepulcher was sealed, there could be no funny business. So then the proof of his resurrection has become incontrovertible by what they themselves have put forward. For because the tomb was sealed, there was no deceitfulness at work. But if there was no sleight of hand and the sepulcher was found empty, it is clear that he has risen, plainly and incontrovertibly. Do you see how even against their will his enemies contend for the proof of the truth? John Chrysostom 300-400s AD Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 14-28, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 301. It would not have sufficed for the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees to have crucified the Lord our Savior if they had not also guarded the tomb, called in the military, sealed the entrance and, as far as they were able, resisted the resurrection. Their concern for these details serves only to advance our faith; the greater their precautionary care, the more fully is revealed the power of the resurrection. Thus he was buried in a new tomb cut from rock. If the tomb had been constructed from a mound of stones, it could have been said that his body was excavated from underneath the stones and secretly removed. That he had to be buried in a sepulcher is also shown by the prophecy which says, “He will dwell in a deep cave cut from the strongest rock,” and again, two verses further: “You will see the king in his glory. Jerome 300s-400s AD: Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 14-28, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 302. So the angel became an evangelist and herald of the resurrection to the women. “Do not seek,” he says, “the one who” always “lives,” who in his own nature is life, “among the dead. He is not here,” that is, dead and in the tomb, “but he has been raised.” He has become a way of ascent to immortality not only for himself but also for us. For this reason he made himself nothing and put on our likeness, that “by the grace of God,” just as the blessed Paul says, “he might taste death on behalf of all.”23 And so he has become the death of death Cyril of Alexandria, 300s-400s AD: Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 14-28, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 307. “Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.” The angel here is preparing the women to take the good news to the other disciples. They are to tell of the evidence that made them believe—the empty tomb. Furthermore, “he is going before you to Galilee.” He says this to relieve them from anxieties and the fear of danger, that their faith not be hindered John Chrysostom 300-400s AD Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 14-28, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 308. “CAN these dry bones live?” is still the unbeliever's sneer. The doctrine of the resurrection is a lamp kindled by the hand which once was pierced. It is indeed in some respects the key-stone of the Christian arch. It is linked in our holy faith with the person of Jesus Christ, and is one of the brightest gems in his crown. What if I call it the signet on his finger, the seal by which he hath proven to a demonstration, that he hath the king's authority, and hath come forth from God? C. H. Spurgeon, Flashes of Thought (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1874), 360. It is by the power of the resurrection of Christ that Thomas, who was so deep and obdurate in unbelief, was so suddenly changed, became an entirely different man, who publicly and freely confesses that he not only believes that Christ is risen, but is also enlightened by the power of Christ's resurrection so that he firmly believes and confesses that he, his Lord, is the true God and man; so he will also arise from the dead on the judgment day and live forever with him in indescribable glory and blessedness. Martin Luther and John Sander, Devotional Readings from Luther's Works for Every Day of the Year (Rock Island, IL: Augustana Book Concern, 1915), 261. It's one thing to “believe that” Jesus rose from the dead and is who He said He was, but it's another to “believe in” Him as Savior. Every one of us, at some point in our investigation of the claims of Christianity, has to move from “belief that” to “belief in.” I can remember when this happened for me. As a rebellious, self-reliant detective, I initially denied my need for a Savior, even though I accepted what the Gospels told me about that Savior. In order to take a step from “belief that” to “belief in,” I needed to move from an examination of Jesus to an examination of me. As I read the Gospels for a second and third time and explored all of the New Testament Scripture, I began to focus more on what it said about me than what it said about Jesus. I didn't like what I saw. Over and over again, I recognized the truth about my own character, behavior, and need for forgiveness; I began to understand my need for repentance. The facts about Jesus confirmed that He was the Savior; the facts about me confirmed my need to trust in Him for forgiveness. I was now ready to move from “belief that” to “belief in.” Alive by J. Warner Wallace, 2014 Then we come to the strangest story of all, the story of the Resurrection. It is very necessary to get the story clear. I heard a man say, ‘The importance of the Resurrection is that it gives evidence of survival, evidence that the human personality survives death.' On that view what happened to Christ would be what had always happened to all men, the difference being that in Christ's case we were privileged to see it happening. This is certainly not what the earliest Christian writers thought. Something perfectly new in the history of the Universe had happened. Christ had defeated death. The door which had always been locked had for the very first time been forced open. This is something quite distinct from mere ghost-survival. I don't mean that they disbelieved in ghost-survival. On the contrary, they believed in it so firmly that, on more than one occasion, Christ had had to assure them that He was not a ghost. The point is that while believing in survival they yet regarded the Resurrection as something totally different and new. The Resurrection narratives are not a picture of survival after death; they record how a totally new mode of being has arisen in the Universe. Something new had appeared in the Universe: as new as the first coming of organic life. This Man, after death, does not get divided into ‘ghost' and ‘corpse'. A new mode of being has arisen. That is the story. What are we going to make of it? C. S. Lewis, God in the Dock, ed. Walter Hooper (HarperOne, 1994), 169–170. Great, then, was the mercy of God the Father. He sent the creative Word, who, when he came to save us, put himself in our position, and in the same situation in which we lost life. He loosed the prison bonds, and his light appeared and dispelled the darkness in the prison, and he sanctified our birth and abolished death, loosing those same bonds by which we were held. He showed forth the resurrection, becoming himself the firstborn from the dead, and raised in himself prostrate man, being lifted up to the heights of heaven, at the right hand of the glory of the Father. Irenaeus 100s-200s AD: William C. Weinrich, ed., Revelation, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 4–5. Humanity must embrace death freely, submit to it with total humility, drink it to the dregs, and so convert it into that mystical death which is the secret of life. But only a Man who did not need to have been a Man at all unless He had chosen, only one who served in our sad regiment as a volunteer, yet also only one who was perfectly a Man, could perform this perfect dying; and thus (which way you put it is unimportant) either defeat death or redeem it. He tasted death on behalf of all others. He is the representative ‘Die-er' of the universe: and for that very reason the Resurrection and the Life. Or conversely, because He truly lives, He truly dies, for that is the very pattern of reality. Because the higher can descend into the lower He who from all eternity has been incessantly plunging Himself in the blessed death of self-surrender to the Father can also most fully descend into the horrible and (for us) involuntary death of the body. Because Vicariousness is the very idiom of the reality He has created, His death can become ours. The whole Miracle, far from denying what we already know of reality, writes the comment which makes that crabbed text plain: or rather, proves itself to be the text on which Nature was only the commentary. In science we have been reading only the notes to a poem; in Christianity we find the poem itself. C. S. Lewis, A Year with C. S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works, ed. Patricia S. Klein, 1st ed. (New York: HarperOne, 2003), 139.

Today's Bible reading is Genesis 18, Nehemiah 7, Matthew 17 and Acts 17. Once again, we are faced with several thick and significant scriptural passages: Genesis 18 features three 'men' visiting Abraham and Sarah, one of whom is God Himself. It also features an incredible intercessory conversation between God and Abraham about the fate of Sodom. In Matthew 17, we see The Transfiguration of Jesus and His meeting with Moses and Elijah high atop a mountain. And in Nehemiah, well - we have an incredibly long list of Hebrew names, and I'm sure I'll butcher several of them, but especially Nephishesim and Pochereth-hazzebaim. Our featured chapter today is going to be Acts 17, because it is strongly focused on the resurrection, and I think the resurrection is the central event of our faith, and there's literally nothing I enjoy more than talking about the resurrection and rational reasons to believe that the resurrection of Jesus was a literal, historical event. If that interests you too, then you might check out my book, Easter Fact or Fiction: 20 Reasons to Believe that Jesus Factually Rose from the Dead. (CLICK HERE) And yes, this podcast is absolutely my secret method for becoming the next Bill Gates 99 cents at a time by luring you into buying my books on Amazon! Great passage, Acts 17 - so many wonderful episodes here. I would be remiss not to mention the Bereans, who eagerly received God's Word through Paul AND searched the Word of God to confirm the teachings of Paul. For this response, Paul commends them as 'of more noble character" than the Thessalonians. Many online ministries, often called 'discernment ministries,' have sought to emulate these Noble Bereans by evaluating the teaching of many Bible teachers, and judging whether or not that teaching lines up with the Bible. That's great, to a degree. As a pastor, I want the people in our church to search the Scriptures, know the Scriptures, follow the Scriptures, and measure my teaching against the Scriptures. Discernment is wonderful and biblical. But - the Bereans EAGERLY heard the Word. They did not have the posture of professional critics. They weren't hanging on Paul's words to judge them and then go and post on their blog all the errors they perceived. They eagerly listened and then confirmed the truth of Paul's preaching with the Word. Not as professional critics, but as eager listeners who valued the Word of God. The Body of Christ does not need people who's sole purpose is to attack and tear down other ministries. People who spend all their time criticizing may not realize it, but they will slowly become monsters worse than those they criticize. When you set yourself up as the judge and arbiter of all that is biblically orthodox, you are assuming a position for yourself that is not really available in Christianity. So - yes! Call people passionately to biblical truth, but take care that you do not yourself violate God's commands on HOW to do so, and take care that you do not become a professional or hobbyist criticizer. Rather, be an encourager and an exhorter. The world is already overpopulated with critics. We need faithful biblical truth holders who walk in uncompromising doctrinal truth AND uncompromising humility and gentle love. /Soap box In Acts 17, we see Paul bring up the resurrection of Jesus 3 times in three different circumstances: To the people of Thessalonica, the to the men of Athens, and during his message at the Aeropagus. In all three instances, we see how crucial and central the message of the resurrection is: 2 As usual, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and rise from the dead: “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah. Acts 17:2-3 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who worshiped God, as well as in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some said, “What is this ignorant show-off trying to say?” Others replied, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities”—because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. Acts 17:17-18 29 Since we are God's offspring then, we shouldn't think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination. 30 “Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:29-31 Very little of what Paul proclaims is mentioned, but in every case, he keeps pointing back to this one central and massive truth: Jesus Christ died and was raised from the dead. This is the very center of the Christian faith - the central truth and the primary claim that everything else radiates out from. In 1 Corinthians 15 (THE resurrection chapter) we see that the entirety of Christianity falls down without the resurrection: Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. 15 Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ—whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. 19 If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone. 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 Did you catch that? If Christians are just following Jesus because He offers comfort, or because He is a good moral teacher, or something like that, then they are to be pitied more than anyone. There are many churches and denominations in the world that have drifted so far from the Bible that they have essentially humanized Jesus. Despite the fact that the message from the earliest days of the first century Christian church has been Christ crucified and raised from the dead, some church going people think that the miracles in the Bible are myths, legends, and exaggerations. They teach that the real miracle of the Feeding of the Five Thousand was that Jesus taught people to share. They teach that Jesus didn't walk on water, but that he walked on a shallow, slightly underwater shoal. They teach that Jesus didn't truly rise from the dead, but that He somehow lives on in the hearts and memories of His followers, with His natural body dying and decaying. Hogwash, all of that! Paul says that this type of attitude - a resurrectionless Christianity - is the most pitiful thing in the entire world, and I couldn't agree more! Over and over again in Acts, we have seen the earliest apostles and teachers proclaim this one primary truth: Jesus rose from the dead. Christian - let that be the center of your proclamation of the good news as well. In this is hope, in this is truth, in this is the good news to a lost and dying world! This Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through him, just as you yourselves know. 23 Though he was delivered up according to God's determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him. 24 God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death. Acts 17:22-24 Top Twenty Quotes on the Resurrection of Jesus (From Spiritual Giants like Spurgeon, Lewis and more!) In no particular order... The New Testament writers speak as if Christ's achievement in rising from the dead was the first event of its kind in the whole history of the universe. He is the ‘first fruits', the ‘pioneer of life'. He has forced open a door that has been locked since the death of the first man. He has met, fought, and beaten the King of Death. Everything is different because He has done so. This is the beginning of the New Creation: a new chapter in cosmic history has opened. C. S. Lewis, A Year with C. S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works, ed. Patricia S. Klein, 1st ed. (New York: HarperOne, 2003), 172. He died, but he vanquished death; in himself he put an end to what we feared; he took it upon himself and he vanquished it, as a mighty hunter he captured and slew the lion. Where is death? Seek it in Christ, for it exists no longer; but it did exist and now it is dead. O life, O death of death! Be of good heart; it will die in us, also. What has taken place in our head will take place in his members; death will die in us also. But when? At the end of the world, at the resurrection of the dead in which we believe and concerning which we do not doubt. Augustine - 300s-400s AD: Thomas C. Oden and Christopher A. Hall, eds., Mark, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 244–245. The whole system of Christianity rests upon the fact that “Christ is risen from the dead;” for, “If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain: ye are yet in your sins.” The divinity of Christ finds its surest proof in his resurrection, since he was “Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” It would not be unreasonable to doubt his Deity if he had not risen. Moreover, Christ's sovereignty depends upon his resurrection, “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.” Again, our justification, that choice blessing of the covenant, is linked with Christ's triumphant victory over death and the grave; for “He was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” Nay, more, our very regeneration is connected with his resurrection, for we are “Begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” And most certainly our ultimate resurrection rests here, for, “If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” If Christ be not risen, then shall we not rise; but if he be risen then they who are asleep in Christ have not perished, but in their flesh shall surely behold their God. Thus, the silver thread of resurrection runs through all the believer's blessings, from his regeneration onwards to his eternal glory, and binds them together. C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening: Daily Readings (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896). And if death was formerly strong, and on that account an object of terror, but now after the sojourn of the Saviour, and the death and resurrection of His body, it is evident that it is by the very Christ who ascended the cross that death has been brought to naught and vanquished. Athanasius of Alexandria, Athanasius: On the Incarnation of the Word of God, trans. T. Herbert Bindley, Second Edition Revised. (London: The Religious Tract Society, 1903), 95. I want you to notice that this evidence was all the better, because they themselves evidently remained the same men as they had been. “They were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit”; and thus they did exactly what they had done long before when he came to them walking on the waters. In the interval between his death and his appearing, no change has come over them. Nothing has happened to them to elevate them as yet out of their littleness of mind. The Holy Spirit was not yet given, and therefore all that they had heard at the Last Supper, and seen in Gethsemane, and at the cross had not yet exercised its full influence upon them: they were still childish and unbelieving. The same men, then, are looking at the same person, and they are in their ordinary condition; this argues strongly for the correctness of their identification of their well-beloved Lord. They are not carried away by enthusiasm, nor wafted aloft by fanaticism; they are not even as yet upborne by the Holy Spirit into an unusual state of mind, but they are as slow of heart and as fearful as ever they were. If they are convinced that Jesus has risen from the dead, depend upon it, it must be so. If they go forth to tell the tidings of his resurrection, and to yield up their lives for it, you may be sure that their witness is true, for they are not the sort of men to be deceived C. H. Spurgeon, “The First Appearance of the Risen Lord to the Eleven,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 33 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1887), 220. Now Paul is laying a foundation here that, if we're not careful, can seem pretty elementary to us. Okay, Jesus rose from the dead, and we can almost read these verses with a ho-hum sense of monotony, thinking, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, I know that.” But think about that. Because there's nothing ho-hum about that. We're talking about a man who died, who died a violent death, the most violent death conceivable in that day. And then, after three days dead, He came to life and appeared to people. Can you imagine going to somebody's funeral, going to their burial, seeing their dead body placed in the ground. And then a week later that person physically walking up to you and saying, “Hello.” That's crazy! It's crazy good; it's the greatest news in all the world: Death has been defeated! May this never be ho-hum for us. May we never forget that the reason we gather together every Sunday is not to hear this pastor or that pastor preach. The reason we gather together every Sunday is because for the last 2000 years, Christians have come together on the first day of the week to remember that Jesus has risen from the dead, and He is alive! David Platt, “The Church at Brook Hills—Part 2,” in David Platt Sermon Archive (Birmingham, AL: David Platt, 2014), 4522–4523. He has changed sunset into sunrise, and through the cross brought death to life; and having wrenched man from destruction, He has raised him to the skies, transplanting mortality into immortality, and translating earth to heaven. Clement of Alexandria 100s-200s AD: Elliot Ritzema, 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Early Church, Pastorum Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013). Wherefore he is also said to be “firstborn from the dead,” not because he died before us, since we died first, but because he suffered death for us and abolished it, and therefore, as man, was the first to rise, raising his own body for our sakes. Therefore, since he has risen, we too shall rise from the dead from him and through him. Athanasius 200s-300s AD: William C. Weinrich, ed., Revelation, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 5. Actually he conquered death by his resurrection. This was the day of grace's triumph: this day he showed to heaven, to hell, and to earth, that death was conquerable; yea, that this personal death was actually overcome. The blessed souls beheld it to their joy, beholding in the resurrection of their Head, a virtual resurrection of their own bodies. The devils saw it, and therefore saw that they had no hopes of holding the bodies of the saints in the power of the grave. The damned souls were acquainted with it, and therefore knew that their sinful bodies must be restored to bear their part in suffering. The believing saints on earth perceive it, and therefore see that their bonds are broken, and that to the righteous there is hope in death; and that our head being actually risen, assureth us that we shall also rise. “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him:” (1 Thess. 4:14:) and as “Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over him;” (Rom. 6:9;) so shall we rise and die no more. This was the beginning of the church's triumph. “This is the day that the Lord hath made, (even the day which the church on earth must celebrate with joy and praise, till the day of our resurrection;) we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24.) The resurrection of our Lord hath, 1st, assured us of the consummation of his satisfaction; 2d, of the truth of all his word, and so of his promises of our resurrection; 3d, that death is actually conquered, and a resurrection possible; 4th, that believers shall certainly rise when their head and Saviour is risen to prepare them an everlasting kingdom, and to assure them that thus he will raise them at the last. A bare promise would not have been so strong a help to faith, as to the actual rising of Christ, as a pledge of the performance. “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept:” (1 Cor. 15:20:) “for because he liveth, we shall live also.” (John 14:19.) Richard Baxter and William Orme, The Practical Works of the Rev. Richard Baxter, vol. 17 (London: James Duncan, 1830), 538–539. We are more than conquerors over death through Christ. God gives us the victory over death. But more than victory. Death is defeated by Jesus. He is bound in the chains of resurrection power so that he cannot destroy us. But more than that. More than that! Death is handed over, bound and defeated, as a servant to the church. We are more than conquerors because death is not just defeated and kept from destroying us; it is enslaved and made the servant of God's people... So death is your servant. The enemy is defeated, bound, enslaved, and delivered into the service of the saints.So it was not naïve romanticizing when Zeke Rudolf called death sweet names. It was not immature glamorizing or embellishing of death when Andrew Rivet said that he had learned more truth about God during ten days in the valley of death than in fifty years of study. Defeated death had become their servant. The terrible enemy had become the tutor of heaven. So it is with the enemies of God. Even in their destruction they are made to serve the saints. John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (1990–1999) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2007). Everywhere deceit recoils upon itself and against its will supports the truth. Observe: It was necessary to believe that he died, and that he rose again, and that he was buried and that all these things were brought to pass by his enemies. Note, at any rate, these words bearing witness to every one of these facts. “We remember that that deceiver said, when he was yet alive” (he was therefore now dead), “ ‘After three days I rise again.' Command therefore that the sepulcher be sealed” (he was therefore buried), “lest his disciples come and steal him away.” Since the sepulcher was sealed, there could be no funny business. So then the proof of his resurrection has become incontrovertible by what they themselves have put forward. For because the tomb was sealed, there was no deceitfulness at work. But if there was no sleight of hand and the sepulcher was found empty, it is clear that he has risen, plainly and incontrovertibly. Do you see how even against their will his enemies contend for the proof of the truth? John Chrysostom 300-400s AD Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 14-28, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 301. It would not have sufficed for the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees to have crucified the Lord our Savior if they had not also guarded the tomb, called in the military, sealed the entrance and, as far as they were able, resisted the resurrection. Their concern for these details serves only to advance our faith; the greater their precautionary care, the more fully is revealed the power of the resurrection. Thus he was buried in a new tomb cut from rock. If the tomb had been constructed from a mound of stones, it could have been said that his body was excavated from underneath the stones and secretly removed. That he had to be buried in a sepulcher is also shown by the prophecy which says, “He will dwell in a deep cave cut from the strongest rock,” and again, two verses further: “You will see the king in his glory. Jerome 300s-400s AD: Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 14-28, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 302. So the angel became an evangelist and herald of the resurrection to the women. “Do not seek,” he says, “the one who” always “lives,” who in his own nature is life, “among the dead. He is not here,” that is, dead and in the tomb, “but he has been raised.” He has become a way of ascent to immortality not only for himself but also for us. For this reason he made himself nothing and put on our likeness, that “by the grace of God,” just as the blessed Paul says, “he might taste death on behalf of all.”23 And so he has become the death of death Cyril of Alexandria, 300s-400s AD: Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 14-28, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 307. “Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.” The angel here is preparing the women to take the good news to the other disciples. They are to tell of the evidence that made them believe—the empty tomb. Furthermore, “he is going before you to Galilee.” He says this to relieve them from anxieties and the fear of danger, that their faith not be hindered John Chrysostom 300-400s AD Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 14-28, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 308. “CAN these dry bones live?” is still the unbeliever's sneer. The doctrine of the resurrection is a lamp kindled by the hand which once was pierced. It is indeed in some respects the key-stone of the Christian arch. It is linked in our holy faith with the person of Jesus Christ, and is one of the brightest gems in his crown. What if I call it the signet on his finger, the seal by which he hath proven to a demonstration, that he hath the king's authority, and hath come forth from God? C. H. Spurgeon, Flashes of Thought (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1874), 360. It is by the power of the resurrection of Christ that Thomas, who was so deep and obdurate in unbelief, was so suddenly changed, became an entirely different man, who publicly and freely confesses that he not only believes that Christ is risen, but is also enlightened by the power of Christ's resurrection so that he firmly believes and confesses that he, his Lord, is the true God and man; so he will also arise from the dead on the judgment day and live forever with him in indescribable glory and blessedness. Martin Luther and John Sander, Devotional Readings from Luther's Works for Every Day of the Year (Rock Island, IL: Augustana Book Concern, 1915), 261. It's one thing to “believe that” Jesus rose from the dead and is who He said He was, but it's another to “believe in” Him as Savior. Every one of us, at some point in our investigation of the claims of Christianity, has to move from “belief that” to “belief in.” I can remember when this happened for me. As a rebellious, self-reliant detective, I initially denied my need for a Savior, even though I accepted what the Gospels told me about that Savior. In order to take a step from “belief that” to “belief in,” I needed to move from an examination of Jesus to an examination of me. As I read the Gospels for a second and third time and explored all of the New Testament Scripture, I began to focus more on what it said about me than what it said about Jesus. I didn't like what I saw. Over and over again, I recognized the truth about my own character, behavior, and need for forgiveness; I began to understand my need for repentance. The facts about Jesus confirmed that He was the Savior; the facts about me confirmed my need to trust in Him for forgiveness. I was now ready to move from “belief that” to “belief in.” Alive by J. Warner Wallace, 2014 Then we come to the strangest story of all, the story of the Resurrection. It is very necessary to get the story clear. I heard a man say, ‘The importance of the Resurrection is that it gives evidence of survival, evidence that the human personality survives death.' On that view what happened to Christ would be what had always happened to all men, the difference being that in Christ's case we were privileged to see it happening. This is certainly not what the earliest Christian writers thought. Something perfectly new in the history of the Universe had happened. Christ had defeated death. The door which had always been locked had for the very first time been forced open. This is something quite distinct from mere ghost-survival. I don't mean that they disbelieved in ghost-survival. On the contrary, they believed in it so firmly that, on more than one occasion, Christ had had to assure them that He was not a ghost. The point is that while believing in survival they yet regarded the Resurrection as something totally different and new. The Resurrection narratives are not a picture of survival after death; they record how a totally new mode of being has arisen in the Universe. Something new had appeared in the Universe: as new as the first coming of organic life. This Man, after death, does not get divided into ‘ghost' and ‘corpse'. A new mode of being has arisen. That is the story. What are we going to make of it? C. S. Lewis, God in the Dock, ed. Walter Hooper (HarperOne, 1994), 169–170. Great, then, was the mercy of God the Father. He sent the creative Word, who, when he came to save us, put himself in our position, and in the same situation in which we lost life. He loosed the prison bonds, and his light appeared and dispelled the darkness in the prison, and he sanctified our birth and abolished death, loosing those same bonds by which we were held. He showed forth the resurrection, becoming himself the firstborn from the dead, and raised in himself prostrate man, being lifted up to the heights of heaven, at the right hand of the glory of the Father. Irenaeus 100s-200s AD: William C. Weinrich, ed., Revelation, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 4–5. Humanity must embrace death freely, submit to it with total humility, drink it to the dregs, and so convert it into that mystical death which is the secret of life. But only a Man who did not need to have been a Man at all unless He had chosen, only one who served in our sad regiment as a volunteer, yet also only one who was perfectly a Man, could perform this perfect dying; and thus (which way you put it is unimportant) either defeat death or redeem it. He tasted death on behalf of all others. He is the representative ‘Die-er' of the universe: and for that very reason the Resurrection and the Life. Or conversely, because He truly lives, He truly dies, for that is the very pattern of reality. Because the higher can descend into the lower He who from all eternity has been incessantly plunging Himself in the blessed death of self-surrender to the Father can also most fully descend into the horrible and (for us) involuntary death of the body. Because Vicariousness is the very idiom of the reality He has created, His death can become ours. The whole Miracle, far from denying what we already know of reality, writes the comment which makes that crabbed text plain: or rather, proves itself to be the text on which Nature was only the commentary. In science we have been reading only the notes to a poem; in Christianity we find the poem itself. C. S. Lewis, A Year with C. S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works, ed. Patricia S. Klein, 1st ed. (New York: HarperOne, 2003), 139.

The discussion that we see at the Aeropagus, also known as Mars Hill, in Athens highlights two main features of the Jesus movement. First, that followers of Jesus, and the message of the Gospel is comfortable and conversant with intellectual thought. Second, that women play a significant role in the expansion of the movement. Both are often missed and misunderstood through Christian tradition, a misconception that Omair helps to redeem in this message.

When Paul speaks to the Aeropagus, he develops a groundbreaking new apologetic.

When Paul speaks to the Aeropagus, he develops a groundbreaking new apologetic.

It’s the 6th Sunday of Easter Year A. Rob works through his PTSD regarding the Aeropagus sermon. They both wrestle with the biblical authors’ references from outside the Bible. Acts 17:22-31 Psalm 66:8-20 1 Peter 3:13-22 John 14:15-21

Lessons from Aeropagus

Summary of today's show: Our usual Thursday panel of Scot Landry, Susan Abbott, and Fr. Roger Landry consider the news headlines of the week, including Pope Benedict joining Twitter as @Pontifex; the Holy Father's new instructions for Catholic charities to remain authentically Catholic; a new smartphone app dedicated to the Pope's words and appearances; CatholicTV moving to basic cable; a parish producing radio ads for the Year of Faith; and a new book that highlights how six saints helped one woman in the most difficult moments of her life. Listen to the show: Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: Today's host(s): Scot Landry and Susan Abbott Today's guest(s): Gregory Tracy, managing editor of the Pilot, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston, and Fr. Roger Landry, pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in Fall River Links from today's show: Some of the stories discussed on this show will be available on The Pilot's and The Anchor's websites on Friday morning. Please check those sites for the latest links. Today's topics: Catholic identity for Catholic charities; Pope on Twitter; Parish radio ads for Year of Faith; New book: My Sisters the Saints 1st segment: Scot welcomed everyone to the show and asked Susan Abbott how things were going for her. She said she was on retreat earlier this week at the 2nd annual Collaborators in the New Evangelization retreat. It brings together people from Boston, Providence, Washington, New Jersey, Maine. She said Monday's topic was communications and speakers included our own Domenico Bettinelli and Bonnie Rodgers of CatholicTV. On Wednesday, she had an enrichment day with catechetical leaders of the Archdiocese. Bishop Arthur Kennedy spoke to the group and hit it out of the park. Michael Lavigne also spoke to the group about resources available for the Year of Faith. Scot said one of the big stories that broke this past Saturday was a motu proprio from Pope Benedict on the Catholic identity of Catholic social service agencies. He said this document came out of the blue. Gregory Tracy said the Holy Father's letter set up new rules for Catholic charitable organizations and how they must conform to the faith. It's part of a larger effort to re-instill Catholic identity to Catholic institutions. As Catholic institutions have grown they have sometimes lost their unique identity, making them indistinguishable from secular organizations. Scot said he didn't find anything surprising in the document except that the Holy Father felt he needed to say it. Fr. Roger explained what a motu proprio is. He said they can be confusing because the words literally means “by the Pope's own action.” It can be something like this that gives new legislation. It's more than an executive order, but more like new legislation from one ruler. The Pope noted that in canon law that there's a lot in canon law for the bishop's role as governor of Catholic institutions, but not for governing charitable organizations that call themselves Catholic. This document lays out the bishop's role in ensuring the Catholicity of those groups. He wrote that the Church's charity is not just social work; we're supposed to be doing explicit work of Christian love. We hope the recipients will see that love and investigate the source of love further. The Pope also noted that parishes also are supposed to be involved in charitable work. He said St. Vincent de Paul Societies isn't the same thing. The Holy Father is calling for something with a greater dependence on the actual leadership of the parish. Many St. Vincent de Paul conferences defer to the pastor, but technically they don't have to. He said the largest point is that Pope Benedict wants to ensure that any Catholic institution is serving others, that they're doing so in Christ's name, and the bishop is making sure everyone involved in the work is respecting Catholic teaching. Fr. Roger said there's two ways the Pope could have done this, the motu proprio or apostolic constitution, which sets down new law. The latter is much more formal and would involve a lot more consultation. An example was Ordinatio Sacerdotalis from 1994 when Pope John Paul wanted to remove doubt about the Church ordaining only men to the priesthood. Susan said she sees it as good news/bad news. It's sad that things that seem so perfectly obvious and sensible need to be put down in writing. She also noted the number of times the Pope referred to the faithful. These works of charity weren't referred to as the “Church's” responsibility in the abstract, but as the responsibility of the faithful. Scot asked Greg how strongly the Church should be defining the line for Catholic practice. Greg said Americans seem to be obsessed with the ability to self-define themselves and to define what it means to be Catholic. He thinks it's important for the Church to give clear instructions. Greg said there are some people who seem to want the Church to be like the Salvation Army, whose Christian identity can be obscured for those who see their work. He said many people want to do good to be nice, but Catholics do this work to be Christ to others, to project Christ into the world. Fr. Roger said the story wasn't picked up by the mainstream media because the way it was written the significance would be lost on many and because the news of the document wasn't leaked ahead of time. Fr. Roger said the definition of the organizations addressed here go beyond Catholic Charities, but includes hospitals and schools and others. 2nd segment: Scot said earlier this week, the Holy Father announced that he was launching eight new Twitter handles, the English one being @Pontifex. This was announced on December 3. Already this week, without the benefit of one Tweet, he has 525,000 followers. He will begin tweeting on December 12. His Spanish account has another 100,000. By next Wednesday, he will have more than 1 million followers. Greg said it's a great testimony of the hunger in the world to hear what the Pope has to say. He added that this is not going to be an interactive account in general, although it's been promised the Holy Father will answer a few questions. Scot said it seems the Pope is trying to embrace this mechanism to evangelize and share our faith. By his presence he's authenticating the Twitterverse as a place for Catholic to share and embrace their faith among others. Fr. Roger said the Pope has emphasized in his recent World Day of Communications message that the Internet is a the new Aeropagus, where we share our faith. The vast majority of people who have signed up in great numbers to follow may never have listened to the Holy Father closely in the past. When the Pope launches next Wednesday, he will respond to a few questions that have been submitted via the hashtag #AskPontifex and this will be a regular opportunity. Scot wondered if @pontifex will be on t-shirts at the next World Youth Day. Susan said it will be a teachable moment as people learn that the word means “bridge-builder”. Scot said he's not a big fan of the use of Latin when the Church could use English because he wants the Church to seem more accessible. On the other hand, in this case, it could cause people to go and find out what it means. Greg said one of the considerations in choosing the handle was that a lot of the handles were taken. He said that by choosing Latin, the Pope didn't show favor to any particular language group because Latin is the common denominator of our faith. Fr. Roger said Pontifex is the technical title of the Holy Father. He is the Bridgebuilder between God and Man. To call the Pope Pontifex Maximus means we walk all over him to get to Jesus. Greg pointed out that the Holy Father said he would personally review everything that goes out and this is why the tweets will not be as frequent. Scot said Cardinal Sean is @CardinalSean, Scot Landry is @scotlandry, the Good Catholic Life is @GoodCathLife, and the Pilot is @BostonPilot. Scot said the Vatican is also releasing a new smartphone app that will include the Pope's speeches and a webcam of his public appearances. It will be available on iPhones and iPads on December 10 and later on Android. It's called The Pope App. Greg said he was particularly interested in this story, especially because of the live video feeds. He thinks virtually every public address of the Pope is recorded by someone, but not all of them can be viewed by everyone. But there are certain moments when you want to patch in. This app will even give you a reminder when a preferred event is starting. Everything will be archived as well. Scot said he's become a big fan of web streams, including those from CatholicTV. Susan said she was able to watch the press conference of Bishop-elect Deeley on her iPhone that day. Susan noted that the company behind the app is also publishing an ebook for the Year of Faith, pulling information from dioceses around the world. Fr. Roger said it seems the Vatican is partnering with private companies. He noted that the Vatican's aphorism is “We'll use yesterday's technology tomorrow.” He said people are often champing at the bit to use their technical gifts at the service of the Church. For a lot of these companies you can't get a better promo than getting the Pope to tweet. Twitter has received an incredible amount of free publicity from the Pope. At every level, this is a win-win for the Church in the world. Scot also noted the good news that Comcast has moved CatholicTV to their basic package from the premium package it was on previously. They hope the other TV providers would also make CatholicTV part of their basic packages so more people can see their programming. The folks at CatholicTV have been pushing this several years. Greg said in his own home they finally have CatholicTV available on their TVs that have analog-to-digital converters. He noted that the digital TV conversion had pushed the channel to a place that many people couldn't get it. Greg said that by adding it to the basic service, Comcast has made CatholicTV available to every customer in New England. Scot said it shows the importance of going to to sign a petition for other cable providers to follow suit. Scot said that a parish in the Diocese of Fall River has decided to air 12 30-second radio commercials on stations on Cape Cod for the Year of Faith. It's a version of the Catholics Come Home campaign but it was done just by the parish. It's the brainchild of the pastor, Fr. George Harrison. Fr. Roger said Corpus Christi has a track record of using advertising to promote coming back to the practice of the faith in their parish. Fr. Harrison wanted to expand beyond the narrow message of Christmas to the whole year of faith. He also likes the method of getting 12 parishioners of all kinds in a studio and asking them questions without scripts about why they love their faith. The Cape lends itself to this type of radio evangelization. He hopes that other Catholic parishes will follow suit. To listen to the ads, go to the website above and click on the Year of Faith logo. Also in the Anchor, Fr. Roger's column gives a testimonial/book review of a new book by Colleen Carroll Campbell. Fr. Roger said he'd read the book the same afternoon he'd read Pope Benedict's book. Ten minutes in he came to the conclusion that Campbell's book, “My Sisters, the Saints” was the better of the two books. She profiles four different crises in her life and how six different saints helped her through those difficulties.

Today's hosts: Scot Landry and Susan Abbott Today's topic(s): Pope's message for Lent, a Pakistani martyr, the Pope's new book, Bishop Chris Coyne from Boston, ultrasounds for life, the Church using the media to spread the message, and WQOM, Boston's new Catholic radio station.Today's guest(s): Fr. Roger Landry, executive editor of The Anchor, the newspaper of the Fall River diocese, and pastor of St. Anthony of Padua parish, New Bedford; Greg Tracy, managing editor The Boston Pilot; and Maria Bain, station manager for WQOM 1060 Boston. A summary of today's show:Pope Benedict's message for Lent 2011 dominates talk of world news, while the example of a martyr for the faith in Pakistan gives us cause to reflect. We celebrate one of our own being ordained an auxiliary bishop for Indianapolis, as well as the donation of an ultrasound machine to promote the cause of life. 1st segment: Scot introduces Susan Abbott as his co-host. She is the director of the Archdiocese of Boston's Office for Religious Education. She reflected on the launch of Catholics Come Home on Ash Wednesday. "It was an amazing experience. When I saw [the TV commercial] on the big TV at the press conference, it took my breath away," she said. "You want people to know the beauty and goodness of the Church." She found the whole day to be emotional and uplifting with a sense of hope despite the difficulties that surround us. 2nd segment: Greg Tracy and Fr. Roger Landry join the program to discuss news from around the world. First up for discussion is Pope Benedict's message for Lent 2011. Pope Benedict is emphasizing our baptism in his Lenten message. Fr. Landry says the ashes of Lent remind, marked as a cross on our foreheads, recalls our baptism when a cross is marked on our foreheads with holy water and holy oil. The more we can enter into our rebirth through baptism, the more we can enter into Christ's death and resurrection. As a father of 10, the experience of baptism is familiar for Greg Tracy. Baptism is the door through which all other graces flow. The other children get excited as well, seeing the beauty of an experience we don't begin to fully understand until much later in life. It is unfortunate that baptism is often the forgotten sacrament. The rite of Election for those being prepared to be received into the Church at Easter will happen this weeked at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. Susan Abbott says she loves the pope's words that in baptism, we are claimed for Christ. Baptism is not a date, but a way of life. The RCIA is a school for baptism. Fr. Landry says Lent is like baseball spring training. The multimillionaire ballplayers are getting back to the fundamentals of baseball. We do the same thing in Lent by getting back to the basics: taking the time to pray, learning how to deny ourselves in order to say no to temptation and say yes to God, learning how to love one another as Christ has loved us. We put God first in prayer, put others second through almsgiving, and ourselves third through fasting. The Holy Father this week commented on the murder of Pakistani government minister Shahbaz Bhatti, the only Catholic in Pakistan's government. The Pakistani Catholic bishops are moving to have him recognized as a martyr for the faith. Greg says that this is just the latest of numerous incidents of anti-Christian violence that seems to be escalating throughout the world. Fr. Landry says we are, first, called to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters. Second, we are called to work with our own government to work for the right to religious freedom everywhere. Third, we should elevate the example of the great martyred heroes of the faith. Bhatti had said beforehand that he would probably die for his work for his Christian brothers and sisters. A Pakistani bishop of Greg's acquaintance once remarked at how empty he found American Catholic churches. In Pakistan, people are literally dying to get to Mass, yet with our freedom to worship so many do not. The Boston Pilot:  3rd segment: Continuing the discussion with Greg Tracy and Fr. Landry, we turn our attention to national news. Last week, Bishop Chris Coyne was ordained an auxiliary bishop in Indianapolis. He is a former spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston and was Greg's boss. Greg recalls the difficult times of the abuse scandals and how then-Fr. Coyne was always a straight shooter, who always said what he knew and if he didn't know, he would say that. Bishop Coyne said at his ordination that bishops are called to be no-nonsense and to "be who we are called to be." It is unusual for an auxiliary bishop to come from outside the diocese in which he is ordained (except for certain Spanish-speaking bishops). Fr. Landry says there are two schools of thought: Some say it's great to promote from within because they know the place and the needs, but others say an outside bring a fresh perspective. We're starting to see more bishops being appointed from outside the diocese for that fresh perspective and a cross-fertilization of best practices from other places in the Church. Bishop Coyne also said that we can never lose sight of the fact that the Church is about the work of evangelization. All that we do as Christians must be performed in light of this truth. 4th segment:Turning their attention to local news, Scot, Susan, Greg, and Fr. Landry, The Pilot has a story about the donation of a new ultrasound machine to a pregnancy help center in Brighton. A private donor and the Knights of Columbus donated a machine that will be housed at St. Elizabeth Medical Center for the use of the nearby archdiocesan pregnancy help center. Seeing the baby on the ultrasound machine can really have an impact on people saying, "I'm not just aborting a fetus, but that's my child in there." Fr. Landry says it has an enormous impact on those who participate in abortion. The late Bernard Nathanson was an abortionist until he saw an unborn child on an ultrasound and began his rejection of abortion. He recorded an ultrasound of an abortion to make his powerful documentary "The Silent Scream." Susan said her involvement with the pro-life movement goes back many years, and the Knights of Columbus have always been big supporters of life. "Bravo to the Knights for all you do." With all the local media outlets present at the launch of Catholics Come Home, as a journalist, Greg said it was a joyous moment. It is great to have all the media turn out for something positive for a change, as opposed to covering a negative development. There were tough questions to be sure, but they were appropriately handled and Cardinal Seán shined. Scot reflected that to have all the media there for the biggest evangelization effort in a generation is awesome to understand that the Church believes the media is a huge tool for evangelization. Fr. Landry said the Pope has been calling us as a Church to join in the new Aeropagus, the place in the city of Athens where the Gospel was preached to the Gentiles. He called the entire Church to take advantage of this gift of the Internet, the new media, and the digital continent. The message is the same, but the means we use is constantly changing. 5th segment: Scot talks with Maria Bain, station manager of WQOM. She's been making parish presentations throughout the archdiocese and has been invited to over 80 parishes. The goal of Catholic radio in Boston is not just evangelize, but also to help parishioners become more involved in their parish and to reconnect lapsed Catholics. The Good Catholic Life, as a locally based radio program, helps WQOM to connect with the local market in a significant way. The Station of the Cross network is also preparing for a listener conference at the TD Garden in Boston on August 6 with Fr. John Corapi. Tickets are available online and through Ticketmaster. There are even opportunities for some to have dinner with Fr. Corapi. All proceeds will benefit WQOM. Discounts are also available for groups. One of the priorities for WQOM right now is to find a benefactor who will donate office space of at least 1,000 square feet within 20 miles of the transmitter in Natick. Ideally, it will have room for offices, a studio, some conference rooms, and even a chapel. Interested parties should contact Maria at 617-939-5207 or email .