In this week’s readings from Acts of the Apostles, the death of Stephen and the persecution of the Greek-speaking Jewish Christians result in the church’s growth beyond Jerusalem. Philip the deacon and others bring the neighboring Samaritans to the faith and send off the Ethiopian eunuch to Africa with the good news. Peter reaches out to the Roman centurion Cornelius and baptizes him and his household.

For Luke, however, the conversion of Paul, recalled in today’s readings, is more important than any of these events. Paul will be the one he uses to tell how the gospel spread to the ends of the earth. He recalls Paul’s conversion three times in the Acts of the Apostles, indicating Paul’s importance in bringing God’s word to the Gentiles.

Jesus himself appears to Paul and speaks to him “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” All three accounts in Acts insist that Paul is divinely chosen for his mission by the Risen Jesus.

Paul also shows us our capabilities, how far we can rise, from the depths to the heights. That’s why the church recalls his conversion a number of times in the church year. As he himself acknowledges, he rose from being a persecutor of the church to became a powerful force for its growth in the world through God’s grace.

St. John Chrysostom says of him: 

“Paul, more than anyone else, has shown us what we really are, and in what our nobility consists, and of what virtue a human being is capable. Each day he aimed ever higher; each day he rose up with greater ardour and faced with new eagerness the dangers that threatened him. He summed up his attitude in the words: I forget what is behind me and push on to what lies ahead. When he saw death imminent, he bade others share his joy: Rejoice and be glad with me! And when danger, injustice and abuse threatened, he said: I am content with weakness, mistreatment and persecution. These he called the weapons of righteousness, thus telling us that he derived immense profit from them…The most important thing of all to him, however, was that he knew himself to be loved by Christ.”

Paul’s letters were circulated and read among the early Christian churches for their spirituality and their teaching. In the early Roman church, those newly baptized in the church of St. John Lateran at Easter were told to visit the church of St. Paul outside the walls on the Tuesday after their baptism and constantly seek his wisdom and guidance.

May we still seek Paul’s wisdom and may God raise up the Paul in us.

Our reading from the 6th chapter of St. John ends this Friday this way: “ Jesus said these things while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.”  It was a new teaching about Bread come down from heaven. 

Jesus introduced this new teaching by feeding a multitude of people with bread and fish as the Passover feast approached. (Friday, 2nd Week of Easter) Then, during the days of the feast, he gave new meaning to the Passover celebration. Commenting on the readings for the feast in the synagogue in Capernaum, he focused especially on readings from the Book of Exodus.

 “I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” ( John 6:35)

Jesus is the true bread that comes down from heaven. Moses gave bread to the people and they died. Those who eat this bread will never die. This bread gives life to the world. “Everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life.”  (Wednesday, 3rd Week of Easter) A Teacher sent from God, Jesus offers a wisdom that brings life.

He does not come just as a messenger of wisdom, however. Jesus comes to share his life, flesh and blood, with those who hear him. 

“Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my Flesh is true food,
and my Blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever.” (John 6:52-59)

 Jesus is not only the  bread of wisdom,  he is flesh to be eaten and blood to be drunk. His  solemn words “Amen, amen, I say to you” announce the mystery of the Holy Eucharist. He promises those who eat his flesh and drink his blood that he will remain in them and they will remain in him. “ The one who feeds on me will have life because of me.” 

Chapter 6 of St. Johns gospel, read these days of the Easter season, is one of the most important sources of our belief in the Eucharist. Jesus lived among us. He died and rose again. He ascended into heaven. He remains with us now in signs, especially in signs of bread and wine. If we remain in him we will have life because of him. 

Commentators on John, like Raymond Brown, recognize a two fold meaning given to bread in the 6th chapter of John. In verses 35-51 Jesus describes himself as a Teacher; he is the bread of wisdom. In verses 51-59 the Bread he speaks of is his own flesh and blood. Both meanings are present in the Mass. Jesus is our Teacher as the scriptures are read. He is flesh and blood as the bread and wine are offered and then given to us.

Caesarea Maritime is an important city to keep in mind as we read these early chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. It’s important first because a “Gentile Pentecost” took place in this city. The Roman centurion Cornelius and his household were baptized here by the Apostle Peter. The mission into the gentile world began here.

Luke highlights Peter’s journey to Caesarea Maritime from Joppa, the port where Jonah began his journey to Nineveh. ( Acts 10:1-48; 11:1-18)  Later, at a crucial meeting in Jerusalem Peter will offer his experience in Caesarea Maritime as God’s sign to announce the gospel to the gentiles. (Acts 15:7-11) 

Caesarea Maritime, 33 miles north of Joppa, was built as a seaport by Herod the Great  and for many years was the Roman military center of Judea where Roman officials, like Pontius Pilate, resided. It was a major port connecting Palestine to the rest of the world.

Philip the Deacon and his four daughters settled there after the persecution of Stephen, Luke reports. They received Paul in their house on his way to Jerusalem. When Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed in 70 AD, Caesarea Maritime became the main city of Judea and also a home for the Christian church. In later years, its bishop was the region’s leading bishop, until a bishop was installed in Jerusalem after Constantine rebuilt it in the 4th century.  

Caesarea Maritime remained a thriving center of Christian learning where great figures like Origen, Gregory Nazianzen and Jerome studied and taught. Only impressive ruins now tell us of the city’s former glory. Poor infrastructure and Moslem invasions finally brought about its end about six centuries after Herod built it.

Luke describe the spread of Christianity through the mission of Paul, but he is not the only missionary. If we follow him alone, we may miss the rich life and spirituality of Eastern Christianity that occurred as the gospel spread to Syria and Egypt. That’s why we should keep Caesarea Maritime in mind. The gospel has more than one story that traces how it spread; it’s not all found in the Acts of the Apostles.

The 6th chapter of Luke’s Acts of the Apostles which we started to read on Saturday of the 2nd week of Easter begins with a social problem we shouldn’t overlook.  Some new converts to Christianity are being treated unfairly. “As the number of disciples continued to grow, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.”( Acts 6:1. Saturday, 2nd week of Easter) 

Substitute “Immigrants” for “Hellenists” in that text a more familiar situation emerges. New-comers are plainly not treated fairly, especially the poorer among them and they’re looking for something more.

The “Hebrews” are the first followers of Jesus, mostly Jews from Galilee. They’re Jewish Christians at home in the Jewish world, who fit into the religious and political Judaism of their time despite being followers of Jesus of Nazareth.

They’re part of the establishment.

In every age immigrants, once they gain a footing in their new home, learn to speak out for their needs. The Hellenists led by Stephen spoke out., Stephen’s fiery words seem to be only about  religious matters, but he’s also criticizing the closed world of Judaism that was early Jewish Christianity as well? 

Stephen’s criticism cost him his life and initiated a Jewish reaction that led to the expulsion of the Hellenists. They become immigrants again but they bring the gospel to new peoples, as Luke notes.

It’s  a misconception to believe, as some do, that Christianity spread easily without problems or sufferings early on. It’s also a misconception to believe that it spread solely due to the genius of Paul the Apostle. Paul was a great figure in the spread of Christianity, but the Acts of the Apostles read this week reminds us there were others, like the deacon Philip, who brought the gospel to Samaria. (Wednesday)

We wonder, too, about the Ethiopian official Philip baptizes. He surely brought the gospel to Africa. (Thursday) There were many others, not just apostles, not solely Paul, but immigrants like Stephen, who fulfilled  a divine plan they hardly understood.

Luke concentrates of Paul’s mission and pays scant attention to the other missionaries who brought the gospel to world around them. Nor does Luke explore social factors, like immigration, that led the spread of Christianity. He doesn’t tell the whole story. 

We are in the midst of an age of massive immigration, due to wars, climate change, religious discrimination and other issues. We tend to see these issues only in social or political terms.

This week’s readings from Luke remind us there’s more. God’s plan is evolving. Stephen marks a transition in the church. Luke will no longer concentrate on the church in Jerusalem. The church takes the path in the Gentile world.