Theophilus

One of the appointed readings for today is taken from the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, a sequel to the Gospel according to Luke, where we hear about the start of the early Church:

 

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over the course of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. ‘This’, he said, ‘is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’

 

So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ 9When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’

 

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers. (Acts 1:1-14)

 

Luke writes to Theophilus, a name which means “lover of God.”  Perhaps Luke wrote it to a real person in time that Luke knew personally, and perhaps he also wrote the book to you and to me, to those who love God.  The Acts of the Apostles is the story of the early Church. After Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, the Holy Spirit came as promised.  That Holy Spirit takes on flesh in the Church, first in the Apostles and those who gathered together, and today in us.  Like our forerunners in the early Church, we are called to constantly devoting ourselves to prayer, to spreading the good news of Jesus Christ, and to work building the Kingdom of God.  So don’t just stand there looking up to heaven; it’s time to get to work!

 

Let us pray:  O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were being cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

CALENDAR REMINDERS

 

St. Augustine’s Feast Day and the 130th Anniversary of the establishment of the parish is Sunday, 24 August.

 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List, especially Lloyd Guidry and his family and Patricia Florence and her family, and all of those suffering in Syria, Israel, the Gaza strip, Iraq and the Ukraine.

 

Your servant in Christ,

 

Fr. Chester J. Makowski, Vicar

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550