Today the Church remembers a person who appears in the Acts of the Apostles, Cornelius the Centurion. James Kiefer writes:
Cornelius is called a God-fearer--that is to say, he was a monotheist, a Gentile who worshipped the One God. The Jews traditionally recognized that such Gentiles had a place in the Family of God, and they are mentioned along with the priests (House of Aaron), the Levites (House of Levi), and the Jews or Israelites (House of Israel) in Ps 115:9-13, Ps 118:2-4, and Ps 135:19-20. In New Testament times, an estimated ten per cent of the population of the Roman Empire consisted of God-fearers, Gentiles who recognized that the pagan belief in many gods and goddesses, who according to the myths about them were given to adultery, treachery, intrigue, and the like, was not a religion for a thoughtful and moral worshipper, and who had accordingly embraced an ethical monotheism -- belief in One God, who had created the world, and who was the upholder of the Moral Law. Although only a few of them took the step of formal conversion to Judaism, undergoing circumcision and accepting the obligations of keeping the food laws and ritual laws of Moses and his rabbinical interpreters, most of them attended synagogue services regularly.
Cornelius, then, was a Roman centurion, and a God-fearing man. One day, as he was praying, an angel appeared to him and told him to send a messenger to Joppa and ask Peter to come and preach to him. Peter, meanwhile, was given a vision that disposed him to go with the messenger. When Peter had preached to Cornelius and his family and friends, the Holy Spirit fell on them, as on the first Christians at Pentecost (Acts 2), and they began to speak in other tongues. Thus, there was ample evidence to convince Jewish Christians who hesitated to believe that it was the will of God that Gentiles should be brought into the Church.
Cornelius was the first Gentile converted to Christianity, along with his household, and Luke, recording this event, clearly regards it as an event of the utmost importance in the history of the early Church, the beginning of the Church's decision to admit Gentiles to full and equal fellowship with Jewish Christians.
Cornelius lived in Caesarea, the political capital of Judea under Herod and the Romans. (Given that Jerusalem was a holy city to the Jews, it would have been needlessly provocative for the Romans to establish their headquarters there.) Although he is not mentioned again, he and his household presumably formed the nucleus of the Christian community that we find mentioned later (Acts 8:40; 21:18) in this important city.
Let us pray: O God, who by your Spirit called Cornelius the Centurion to be the first Christian among the Gentiles: Grant to your Church such a ready will to go where you send and to do what you command, that under your guidance it may welcome all who turn to you in love and faith, and proclaim the Gospel to all nations; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
WE WELCOME JILLIAN BAIN WHO WAS CONFIRMED AND RAUL SANCHEZ WHO WAS RECEIVED. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO MADE THE SUNDAY’S SERVICE A SPECIAL DAY!
CALENDAR REMINDERS
Mardi Gras on Tuesday, 21 February in Sutton Hall hosted by the Taylors. Please bring soft drinks and wine.
Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on 22 February. We will have the Ash Wednesday liturgy with the Imposition of Ashes at 6:00 p.m.
The Joint Lenten Series with Grace begins on Wednesday, 29 February with Stations of the Cross and Eucharist at 6:00 p.m. followed by a light meal and a program by Tony Campolo:
Week I (Grace): Abundant Life, What Is It?
Week II (St. Augustine): Money: How Poor Does Jesus Want Us To Be?
Week III (Grace): Time: How Much Do I Have to Give Away?
Week IV (St. Augustine): Stuff: How Much Can I Have?
Week V (Grace): Support: What Will Help?
Week VI (St. Augustine): Next: What Will I Do Come Monday Morning?
Please join us.
YOUR ST. AUGUSTINE IN THE NEWS:
Sacred Places tour:
http://galvestondailynews.com/story/289334
Cornelius is called a God-fearer--that is to say, he was a monotheist, a Gentile who worshipped the One God. The Jews traditionally recognized that such Gentiles had a place in the Family of God, and they are mentioned along with the priests (House of Aaron), the Levites (House of Levi), and the Jews or Israelites (House of Israel) in Ps 115:9-13, Ps 118:2-4, and Ps 135:19-20. In New Testament times, an estimated ten per cent of the population of the Roman Empire consisted of God-fearers, Gentiles who recognized that the pagan belief in many gods and goddesses, who according to the myths about them were given to adultery, treachery, intrigue, and the like, was not a religion for a thoughtful and moral worshipper, and who had accordingly embraced an ethical monotheism -- belief in One God, who had created the world, and who was the upholder of the Moral Law. Although only a few of them took the step of formal conversion to Judaism, undergoing circumcision and accepting the obligations of keeping the food laws and ritual laws of Moses and his rabbinical interpreters, most of them attended synagogue services regularly.
Cornelius, then, was a Roman centurion, and a God-fearing man. One day, as he was praying, an angel appeared to him and told him to send a messenger to Joppa and ask Peter to come and preach to him. Peter, meanwhile, was given a vision that disposed him to go with the messenger. When Peter had preached to Cornelius and his family and friends, the Holy Spirit fell on them, as on the first Christians at Pentecost (Acts 2), and they began to speak in other tongues. Thus, there was ample evidence to convince Jewish Christians who hesitated to believe that it was the will of God that Gentiles should be brought into the Church.
Cornelius was the first Gentile converted to Christianity, along with his household, and Luke, recording this event, clearly regards it as an event of the utmost importance in the history of the early Church, the beginning of the Church's decision to admit Gentiles to full and equal fellowship with Jewish Christians.
Cornelius lived in Caesarea, the political capital of Judea under Herod and the Romans. (Given that Jerusalem was a holy city to the Jews, it would have been needlessly provocative for the Romans to establish their headquarters there.) Although he is not mentioned again, he and his household presumably formed the nucleus of the Christian community that we find mentioned later (Acts 8:40; 21:18) in this important city.
Let us pray: O God, who by your Spirit called Cornelius the Centurion to be the first Christian among the Gentiles: Grant to your Church such a ready will to go where you send and to do what you command, that under your guidance it may welcome all who turn to you in love and faith, and proclaim the Gospel to all nations; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
WE WELCOME JILLIAN BAIN WHO WAS CONFIRMED AND RAUL SANCHEZ WHO WAS RECEIVED. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO MADE THE SUNDAY’S SERVICE A SPECIAL DAY!
CALENDAR REMINDERS
Mardi Gras on Tuesday, 21 February in Sutton Hall hosted by the Taylors. Please bring soft drinks and wine.
Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on 22 February. We will have the Ash Wednesday liturgy with the Imposition of Ashes at 6:00 p.m.
The Joint Lenten Series with Grace begins on Wednesday, 29 February with Stations of the Cross and Eucharist at 6:00 p.m. followed by a light meal and a program by Tony Campolo:
Week I (Grace): Abundant Life, What Is It?
Week II (St. Augustine): Money: How Poor Does Jesus Want Us To Be?
Week III (Grace): Time: How Much Do I Have to Give Away?
Week IV (St. Augustine): Stuff: How Much Can I Have?
Week V (Grace): Support: What Will Help?
Week VI (St. Augustine): Next: What Will I Do Come Monday Morning?
Please join us.
YOUR ST. AUGUSTINE IN THE NEWS:
Sacred Places tour:
http://galvestondailynews.com/story/289334
Lee Runion & Mardi Gras masks:
http://galvestondailynews.com/photo/289298
Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550
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