CT - Catholic Telegraph

The roots of evangelization

Sixth Sunday of Easter (A), Acts of the Apostles 8:5-8, 14-17. [Lect. 055, May 1, 2005]

This sixth Sunday of Easter brings us still another chapter in the history of the young church. Soon after the choosing of the seven helpers for the Apostles that we heard about last Sunday, a persecution of Christians broke out in Jerusalem. One of the seven, Stephen, had been arrested. His accusers said he had been preaching against the temple and the Jewish law. He was brought before the Sanhedrin, condemned and stoned to death. These events were followed by a persecution, apparently directed toward the Greek-speaking Jewish Christians who fled into the countryside around Jerusalem and into Samaria.

This Sunday’s reading is concerned with another of the seven, Philip, and his activities in Samaria where he had gone to escape the persecution.

Samaria was an area north of Jerusalem. In times past it had been part of the northern kingdom of Israel. The northern kingdom had been definitively overcome by the Assyrians in 721 B.C. The Assyrians deported most of the Israelites and brought in Gentile settlers to populate the land. The Samaritans of New Testament times, therefore, were a mixture of descendants of Israelites and foreigners. They had some connection with full blooded Jews and observed a kind of stripped down Judaism, but the Jews of New Testament times looked on the Samaritans as half-savage heretics.

It is to these people that Philip brings the good news of salvation when he is driven out of Jerusalem. In the process of evangelization Philip works miracles, driving out unclean spirits and curing the crippled. These are the same kind of miracles that Jesus had worked in His public life, and the results of Philip’s preaching were like those of Jesus. People paid attention to his words and his works and found "great joy" in the fact that the salvation that Jesus had proclaimed to the Jews was now being offered to them, too. In the verses omitted in our reading, the text says that "men and women alike were baptized."

Now comes, as it were, the second chapter of this Sunday’s narrative. Word got back to Jerusalem that the Samaritans (of all people!) "had accepted the word of God." They had been baptized, but had not yet received the Holy Spirit. (At this time the coming of the Holy Spirit on a new member of the church seems to have been an observable phenomenon.) So the apostles in Jerusalem send Peter and John to Samaria. They imposed hands on the Samaritan converts who thus received the Holy Spirit.

This narrative makes two important points. First of all, it describes another step in the spread of the faith. Last week we saw certain tensions of diversity being resolved by the institution of a new level of ministry. Both Hebrew speaking Jews and Greek speaking Jews were to be fully accommodated in the Christian community. Now comes another stage. Thanks to the circumstances of the persecution in Jerusalem, the Christian Gospel is presented to the half caste Samaritans, who receive it with joy and who are gifted with the Holy Spirit just like full fledged Jews in Jerusalem. Later on in chapter 8 of Acts Philip will baptize a pagan who was a sometime practitioner of Judaism. Finally Paul would bring the faith to Gentiles who had no connection whatsoever with Judaism. As the story of the church unfolds in Acts we see the Christian community gradually becoming universal, i.e., catholic. This is one of the main themes of Acts.

The second important point in this reading is the involvement of the apostles. Their coming to Samaria was not so much a matter of providing certain services that Philip could not perform. It was rather a case of their ratifying or certifying what Philip had done. Bringing the Samaritans into the fold of the church was a revolutionary thing to do. By showing us the apostles playing a role in the event, Luke assures his readers that the gradual spread of the faith into ever new contexts was in accord with the will of Christ. It wasn’t a one time aberration perpetrated by an off beat enthusiast, but was an important happening sanctioned by the highest leadership of the church.

Our first readings on these Sundays of Easter time show us episodes in the life of the church that are still going on: the faith spreading throughout the world, and the successors of the apostles exercising leadership and direction in the name of the Lord.

For reflection and discussion

What part do Christians of other cultures play in my experience of the Church?

How is the ministry of present day apostles (i.e., pope and bishops) part of my faith life?



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	*Overtures* Reflection on the first readings of the Sunday liturgy By Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk The roots of evangelization Sixth Sunday of Easter (A), Acts of the Apostles 8:5-8, 14-17. [Lect. 055, May 1, 2005] This sixth Sunday of Easter brings us still another chapter in the history of the young church. Soon after the choosing of the seven helpers for the Apostles that we heard about last Sunday, a persecution of Christians broke out in Jerusalem. One of the seven, Stephen, had been arrested. His accusers said he had been preaching against the temple and the Jewish law. He was brought before the Sanhedrin, condemned and stoned to death. These events were followed by a persecution, apparently directed toward the Greek-speaking Jewish Christians who fled into the countryside around Jerusalem and into Samaria. This Sunday’s reading is concerned with another of the seven, Philip, and his activities in Samaria where he had gone to escape the persecution. Samaria was an area north of Jerusalem. In times past it had been part of the northern kingdom of Israel. The northern kingdom had been definitively overcome by the Assyrians in 721 B.C. The Assyrians deported most of the Israelites and brought in Gentile settlers to populate the land. The Samaritans of New Testament times, therefore, were a mixture of descendants of Israelites and foreigners. They had some connection with full blooded Jews and observed a kind of stripped down Judaism, but the Jews of New Testament times looked on the Samaritans as half-savage heretics. It is to these people that Philip brings the good news of salvation when he is driven out of Jerusalem. In the process of evangelization Philip works miracles, driving out unclean spirits and curing the crippled. These are the same kind of miracles that Jesus had worked in His public life, and the results of Philip’s preaching were like those of Jesus. People paid attention to his words and his works and found "great joy" in the fact that the salvation that Jesus had proclaimed to the Jews was now being offered to them, too. In the verses omitted in our reading, the text says that "men and women alike were baptized." Now comes, as it were, the second chapter of this Sunday’s narrative. Word got back to Jerusalem that the Samaritans (of all people!) "had accepted the word of God." They had been baptized, but had not yet received the Holy Spirit. (At this time the coming of the Holy Spirit on a new member of the church seems to have been an observable phenomenon.) So the apostles in Jerusalem send Peter and John to Samaria. They imposed hands on the Samaritan converts who thus received the Holy Spirit. This narrative makes two important points. First of all, it describes another step in the spread of the faith. Last week we saw certain tensions of diversity being resolved by the institution of a new level of ministry. Both Hebrew speaking Jews and Greek speaking Jews were to be fully accommodated in the Christian community. Now comes another stage. Thanks to the circumstances of the persecution in Jerusalem, the Christian Gospel is presented to the half caste Samaritans, who receive it with joy and who are gifted with the Holy Spirit just like full fledged Jews in Jerusalem. Later on in chapter 8 of Acts Philip will baptize a pagan who was a sometime practitioner of Judaism. Finally Paul would bring the faith to Gentiles who had no connection whatsoever with Judaism. As the story of the church unfolds in Acts we see the Christian community gradually becoming universal, i.e., catholic. This is one of the main themes of Acts. The second important point in this reading is the involvement of the apostles. Their coming to Samaria was not so much a matter of providing certain services that Philip could not perform. It was rather a case of their ratifying or certifying what Philip had done. Bringing the Samaritans into the fold of the church was a revolutionary thing to do. By showing us the apostles playing a role in the event, Luke assures his readers that the gradual spread of the faith into ever new contexts was in accord with the will of Christ. It wasn’t a one time aberration perpetrated by an off beat enthusiast, but was an important happening sanctioned by the highest leadership of the church. Our first readings on these Sundays of Easter time show us episodes in the life of the church that are still going on: the faith spreading throughout the world, and the successors of the apostles exercising leadership and direction in the name of the Lord. For reflection and discussion** What part do Christians of other cultures play in my experience of the Church? How is the ministry of present day apostles (i.e., pope and bishops) part of my faith life?

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