Thoughts and Reflection
Today we read about the martyrdom of Stephen, persecution of Christians in Jerusalem and the scattering of Jesus’ desciples thoughout the region of Judea and Samaria to fulfill the words of Jesus to spread the gospel. The persecution of the church sparks the next wave of evangelization. Suffering and persecution do not mean things went wrong. Philip begins to preach the gospel in Samaria. One of the converts is Simon, a magician, who wants to “buy” the power of the Holy Spirit from the apostles. The term of “simony” is coined here – buing and selling of religious sacred things.
A Ethiopian eunuch has come to Jerusalem to worship. Philip approaches him when he is reading the book of Isaiah and asks if he understands what he is reading. The eunuch replies that he cannot unless he is guided.
The letter to the Romans is a call to love. St Paul teaches us that believers in Christ are free from the Law, so they are now living by the law of love. This doesn’t mean they get to do what they want, however. He warns against giving of scandal and before doing anything, we should consider if our actions will help or hurt.
About This Project
For the year 2022, I decided that my New Year’s Resolution was to read the whole Bible following the Bible in the Year plan presented by Fr. Mike Schmitz. It is a big and bold undertaking. You can follow along by subscribing. Feel free to look at previous day’s post and comment. It’s something we can all learn from together!
Daily Readings
Acts 8
1 Saul approved of the killing. That day a bitter persecution started against the church in Jerusalem, and everyone except the apostlesscattered to the country districts of Judaea and Samaria.
2 There were some devout people, however, who buried Stephen and made great mourning for him.
3 Saul then began doing great harm to the church; he went from house to house arresting both men and women and sending them to prison.
4 Once they had scattered, they went from place to place preaching the good news.
5 And Philip went to a Samaritan town and proclaimed the Christ to them.
6 The people unanimously welcomed the message Philip preached, because they had heard of the miracles he worked and because they saw them for themselves.
7 For unclean spirits came shrieking out of many who were possessed, and several paralytics and cripples were cured.
8 As a result there was great rejoicing in that town.
9 Now a man called Simon had for some time been practising magic arts in the town and astounded the Samaritan people. He had given it out that he was someone momentous,
10 and everyone believed in him; eminent citizens and ordinary people alike had declared, ‘He is the divine power that is called Great.’
11 He had this following because for a considerable period they had been astounded by his wizardry.
12 But when they came to accept Philip’s preaching of the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised, both men and women,
13 and even Simon himself became a believer. After his baptism Simon went round constantly with Philip and was astonished when he saw the wonders and great miracles that took place.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,
15 and they went down there and prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit,
16 for as yet he had not come down on any of them: they had only been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus.
17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,
19 with the words, ‘Give me the same power so that anyone I lay my hands on will receive the Holy Spirit.’
20 Peter answered, ‘May your silver be lost for ever, and you with it, for thinking that money could buy what God has given for nothing!
21 You have no share, no part, in this: God can see how your heart is warped.
22 Repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that this scheme of yours may be forgiven;
23 it is plain to me that you are held in the bitterness of gall and the chains of sin.’
24 Simon replied, ‘Pray to the Lord for me yourselves so that none of the things you have spoken about may happen to me.’
25 Having given their testimony and proclaimed the word of the Lord, they went back to Jerusalem, preaching the good news to a number of Samaritan villages.
26 The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, ‘Set out at noon and go along the road that leads from Jerusalem down to Gaza, the desert road.’
27 So he set off on his journey. Now an Ethiopian had been on pilgrimage to Jerusalem; he was a eunuch and an officer at the court of the kandake, or queen, of Ethiopia; he was her chief treasurer.
28 He was now on his way home; and as he sat in his chariot he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
29 The Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go up and join that chariot.’
30 When Philip ran up, he heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’
31 He replied, ‘How could I, unless I have someone to guide me?’ So he urged Philip to get in and sit by his side.
32 Now the passage of scripture he was reading was this: Like a lamb led to the slaughter-house, like a sheep dumb in front of its shearers, he never opens his mouth.
33 In his humiliation fair judgement was denied him. Who will ever talk about his descendants, since his life on earth has been cut short?
34 The eunuch addressed Philip and said, ‘Tell me, is the prophet referring to himself or someone else?’
35 Starting, therefore, with this text of scripture Philip proceeded to explain the good news of Jesus to him.
36 Further along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, ‘Look,is some water; is there anything to prevent my being baptised?’
38 He ordered the chariot to stop, then Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water and he baptised him.
39 But after they had come up out of the water again Philip was taken away by the Spirit of the Lord, and the eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing.
40 Philip appeared in Azotus and continued his journey, proclaiming the good news in every town as far as Caesarea.
Romans 13
1 Everyone is to obey the governing authorities, because there is no authority except from God and so whatever authorities exist have been appointed by God.
2 So anyone who disobeys an authority is rebelling against God’s ordinance; and rebels must expect to receive the condemnation they deserve.
3 Magistrates bring fear not to those who do good, but to those who do evil. So if you want to live with no fear of authority, live honestly and you will have its approval;
4 it is there to serve God for you and for your good. But if you do wrong, then you may well be afraid; because it is not for nothing that the symbol of authority is the sword: it is there to serve God, too, as his avenger, to bring retribution to wrongdoers.
5 You must be obedient, therefore, not only because of this retribution, but also for conscience’s sake.
6 And this is why you should pay taxes, too, because the authorities are all serving God as his agents, even while they are busily occupied with that particular task.
7 Pay to each one what is due to each: taxes to the one to whom tax is due, tolls to the one to whom tolls are due, respect to the one to whom respect is due, honour to the one to whom honour is due.
8 The only thing you should owe to anyone is love for one another, for to love the other person is to fulfil the law.
9 All these: You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet, and all the other commandments that there are, are summed up in this single phrase: You must love your neighbour as yourself.
10 Love can cause no harm to your neighbour, and so love is the fulfilment of the Law.
11 Besides, you know the time has come; the moment is here for you to stop sleeping and wake up, because by now our salvation is nearer than when we first began to believe.
12 The night is nearly over, daylight is on the way; so let us throw off everything that belongs to the darkness and equip ourselves for the light.
13 Let us live decently, as in the light of day; with no orgies or drunkenness, no promiscuity or licentiousness, and no wrangling or jealousy.
14 Let your armour be the Lord Jesus Christ, and stop worrying about how your disordered natural inclinations may be fulfilled.
Romans 14
1 Give a welcome to anyone whose faith is not strong, but do not get into arguments about doubtful points.
2 One person may have faith enough to eat any kind of food; another, less strong, will eat only vegetables.
3 Those who feel free to eat freely are not to condemn those who are unwilling to eat freely; nor must the person who does not eat freely pass judgement on the one who does — because God has welcomed him.
4 And who are you, to sit in judgement over somebody else’s servant? Whether he deserves to be upheld or to fall is for his own master to decide; and he shall be upheld, for the Lord has power to uphold him.
5 One person thinks that some days are holier than others, and another thinks them all equal. Let each of them be fully convinced in his own mind.
6 The one who makes special observance of a particular day observes it in honour of the Lord. So the one who eats freely, eats in honour of the Lord, making his thanksgiving to God; and the one who does not, abstains from eating in honour of the Lord and makes his thanksgiving to God.
7 For none of us lives for himself and none of us dies for himself;
8 while we are alive, we are living for the Lord, and when we die, we die for the Lord: and so, alive or dead, we belong to the Lord.
9 It was for this purpose that Christ both died and came to life again: so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 Why, then, does one of you make himself judge over his brother, and why does another among you despise his brother? All of us willhave to stand in front of the judgement-seat of God:
11 as scripture says: By my own life says the Lord, every knee shall bow before me, every tongue shall give glory to God.
12 It is to God, then, that each of us will have to give an account of himself.
13 Let us each stop passing judgement, therefore, on one another and decide instead that none of us will place obstacles in any brother’s way, or anything that can bring him down.
14 I am sure, and quite convinced in the Lord Jesus, that no food is unclean in itself; it is only if someone classifies any kind of food as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
15 And indeed, if through any kind of food you are causing offence to a brother, then you are no longer being guided by love. You are not to let the food that you eat cause the ruin of anyone for whom Christ died.
16 A privilege of yours must not be allowed to give rise to harmful talk;
17 for it is not eating and drinking that make the kingdom of God, but the saving justice, the peace and the joy brought by the Holy Spirit.
18 It is the person who serves Christ in these things that will be approved by God and respected by everyone.
19 So then, let us be always seeking the ways which lead to peace and the ways in which we can support one another.
20 Do not wreck God’s work for the sake of food. Certainly all foods are clean; but all the same, any kind can be evil for someone to whom it is an offence to eat it.
21 It is best to abstain from eating any meat, or drinking any wine, or from any other activity which might cause a brother to fall away, or to be scandalised, or to weaken.
22 Within yourself, before God, hold on to what you already believe. Blessed is the person whose principles do not condemn his practice.
23 But anyone who eats with qualms of conscience is condemned, because this eating does not spring from faith — and every action which does not spring from faith is sin.
Proverbs 27:15-17
15 The dripping of a gutter on a rainy day and a quarrelsome woman are alike;
16 whoever can restrain her, can restrain the wind, and take a firm hold on grease.
17 Iron is sharpened by iron, one person is sharpened by contact with another.
