Greetings!
The Areopagus is where St. Paul went to preach in Athens--the story is in Acts 17:16-34. It was the center for philosphical discourse at a very high level in Greece. Now Athens at this time was a very religious city---recall the Greek myths that you learned as children. They had temples to every conceivable "god". In fact, they even had a temple dedicated "To An Unknown God."
St. Paul saw this when traveling through the city before he went to the Areopagus and decided to use it to his advantage. For he told the other philosophers and intellectuals that he knew "who this unknown God is"---the God of Jesus Christ. It was a valiant attempt at taking something from the culture and transferring it to Christianity, that met with very little success--and St. Paul making a fairly hasty exit amidst the scoffers.
Needless to say, our own time is filled with it's share of scoffers--especially at the claims of Christianity---witness the 11 million people who claim that the Da Vinci Code has "helped" their spirituality and the 2 million who say the book has "changed their beliefs."
Phil's Tidbits:
Striking is the following story from Lifesitenews.com from Pentecost Sunday. Recall John 6, "the Bread of Life Discourse" especially v. 66, when the people don't agree with Jesus' teaching, they leave. One almost wishes the people below had the same integrity....
Homosexual Activist Steals Holy Communion at Church, Distributes Among Sash-Wearing Activists
By Gudrun Schultz
By Gudrun Schultz
ST. PAUL-MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, June 6, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Homosexual activists followed through on their threats to disrupt mass at Roman Catholic Cathedrals on Pentecost Sunday. Last Sunday more than 50 activists, wearing rainbow-coloured sashes "celebrating" homosexuality, demonstrated at St. Paul's Cathedral during Holy Mass.
The demonstrators were not given Holy Communion. Chaos broke out when one man, not wearing a sash, received Communion and then broke the host and distributed the fragments to some sash wearers, who consumed them.
Ushers threatened to call the police, reported the Washington Post, and one church employee wept when Communion was re-distributed to the protesters by the unidentified man. The Mass continued, however, and the incident "ended peacefully," Archdiocese spokesman Dennis McGrath told the Post.
"It was confrontational, but we decided not to try to arrest the guy," he said.
The group wears rainbow-coloured sashes while attending Mass to indicate they are actively living a homosexual lifestyle, but intend to receive Communion regardless. The demonstration challenges the Church's teaching that homosexual behaviour is gravely immoral and constitutes a mortal sin. Under church teaching, a Catholic cannot receive Holy Communion while in a state of mortal sin; he must first confess his sin and receive absolution from a priest.
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Announcements:
-This Thursday, Sr. Mary Gabriel, native of St. Peter's, now a sister of the Nashville Dominicans will be coming home to say "thank you" and share a bit about her life in the convent. 7pm in the Church basement.
-This Saturday & Sunday is the parish festival. Come enjoy the food, fun, games and music!
God bless you!
Phil Lawson