Monday of Week 6 of Easter – First Reading

Commentary on Acts 16:11-15

Following on his vision of the young Macedonian man, Paul and his companions decide to cross over from Troas and head towards the town of Philippi. On the way they passed through Samothrace (a place made famous by the magnificent marble sculpture of Victory now on display in the Louvre at Paris) and Neapolis (meaning ‘New City’—a name it shares with Naples among other places).

Samothrace was actually an island in the northeastern Aegean Sea, lying just half way between Troas and Neapolis. It was a convenient place for boats to anchor rather than risk sailing at night. Neapolis was the seaport for Philippi, about 16 km (10 miles) away. Today it is known as Kavalla.

Philippi, as Acts tells us, was a major town in the principal district of the province of Macedonia. It had become a Roman colony and was a completely Latin city—its administration modelled on that of Rome. According to the New International Version Bible, it was

“…a city…named after Philip II, father of Alexander the Great. Since it was a Roman colony, it was independent of provincial administration and had a governmental organisation modelled after that of Rome. Many retired legionnaires from the Roman army settled there, but few Jews.”

Its name was further enhanced by Paul’s writing one of his most beautiful letters to the Christian community of the town. Hence, Philippi was a place, then as well as now, steeped in history, both secular and religious.

Paul and his companions spent some time in the city. On a Sabbath day, they went outside the city to find a place to pray. With so few Jews in the city, there was probably no synagogue so, as was not uncommon, they chose an outdoor venue near running water. In this case it would have been the bank of the Gangites River. By choosing such a place they could also carry out the necessary ablutions before prayer (it is clear that Paul, the Pharisee, maintained many of his old religious customs).

There they met some women and among them was one named Lydia, a dealer in purple goods from Thyatira. She may have been called Lydia because she came from the district of Lydia. Thyatira, situated in the Roman province of Asia, 33 km (20 miles) southeast of Pergamum (in the Hellenistic kingdom of Lydia), was famous for its dye-works, especially royal purple (crimson). Later, there was a Christian community there which is twice mentioned in the book of Revelation (1:11; 2:18). As purple-dyed goods were expensive and only worn by the wealthy, we can take it that this woman was fairly well off herself. Also remember that the rich man in the parable of ‘Dives and Lazarus’ was clothed in fine purple (Luke 16:19-31).

Lydia was also a “worshiper of God”. In other words, though a Gentile, she believed in the God of the Jews and followed the moral teachings of Scripture. She was not, however, a full convert to Judaism. But being well disposed, “the Lord opened her heart” to what Paul was saying, and Lydia accepted the gospel message. Like Cornelius before her, she and her whole household (family members and servants) were all baptised.

She then invited Paul and his companions to share the hospitality of her (probably large) house, if they truly regarded her as “faithful to the Lord”, and she would brook no refusal. The wording suggests that Paul was not altogether willing to stay in such a place; in general, he tended to boast that he supported himself from what he earned by his work. In this case, he may have regarded Lydia’s place as too grand, or perhaps he remembered the instruction of the Master about not moving from house to house, but to stay in the first place which offered hospitality. Lydia apparently was a woman who would not take ‘no’ for an answer. A place like hers, in fact, would make an excellent house church where the community could gather. So it seems that in this one case Paul did accept, and this is a compliment to Lydia’s charity and that of the other newly baptised Philippian Christians.

As such, Philippi shares the distinction of really being the first European centre to hear the Christian message. It was to be the beginning of a glorious history, which was to transform the continent, not only in the area of religion, but also in culture and the arts (painting, sculpture, literature, music) and in social and political development—a movement which still continues.

Paul, of course, was not to know any of that; he would quote the saying from the Gospel:

One sows and another reaps. (John 4:37)

Paul saw himself primarily as a sower. The same is true of each one of us. But it is important that we sow the seed; otherwise there is nothing to reap.

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Saturday of Week 6 of Easter – First Reading

Commentary on Acts 18:23-28

Today we begin the third, and final, missionary journey of Paul. After leaving Corinth, Paul, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila, crossed over to Ephesus on the west coast of present-day Turkey. He separated from them there and went to preach in the local synagogues. In spite of the unwelcome reception he so often got from his fellow-Jews, he always made a point of approaching them first when he arrived in a new place. He apparently did well there, because they asked him to stay longer. However, he was clearly anxious to get back to Syrian Antioch, but he promised that he would return—and he did.

On reaching Palestine, he landed at Caesarea where he greeted the local church before going on northwards to Antioch, and it is at that point that today’s reading begins.

He stayed in Antioch for an unspecified length of time before setting out on his third—and final—missionary journey. He began by revisiting the places where he had planted the church almost 10 years previously. He followed the same route he had taken when beginning his second journey, but in the reverse order. The only place mentioned is the “region of Galatia and Phrygia”, which is in the southern part of present-day central Turkey.

We are then introduced to Apollos, who had just arrived from Ephesus in Lydia, on the west coast. He was a Jew and a native of Alexandria, which was on the north coast of Egypt and, at the time, the second largest city of the Roman Empire. It also had a large Jewish population.

Apollos is spoken of very highly as a man of eloquence, well-versed both in the Hebrew Scriptures and:

…instructed in the Way of the Lord…

Apollos also:

…spoke with burning enthusiasm and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.

He was clearly a deeply spiritual person. It is strange though, that in spite of all that Apollos knew about Jesus, he had not yet been properly baptised in the name of Jesus. Basically, like John the Baptist, he was still looking forward to the coming of the Messiah. His baptism was based on repentance for sin rather than full incorporation through the gift of the Spirit in the Christian community.

In Ephesus, he became an enthusiastic preacher and spoke fearlessly in the Jewish synagogue there. Here he drew the attention of Paul’s friends, Priscilla and Aquila, who took him to their house and gave him a deeper understanding of the new Way.

Perhaps because of what he had heard from Priscilla and Aquila, Apollos was anxious to go across to Achaia, in other words to Corinth, and letters were written to guarantee him a warm welcome. There he gave great encouragement to the believers while continuing to debate with his fellow-Jews, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.

It is clear that Apollos had a very special charism for evangelisation, so much so that cliques began to form in the community where some were for Paul and others for Apollos. These developed into quarrelling factions. Paul would later deplore this development in one of his letters (see 1 Cor 1:12 and 3:4-11).

These remarks about Apollos have something in common with the description of what we find in the next chapter (chap 19) that describes Paul’s arrival in Ephesus. Here, we are told that the disciples there were only baptised:

…into John’s baptism [and had] not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.

Paul had all these people baptised in the name of Jesus.

Despite the quarreling factions that arose, we should take inspiration from the insights and zeal of Apollos for the Way of Jesus in the context of evangelisation today.

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