05/09/2023

In his prayers, St Paul remembers all those who have accepted the Word preached by him. In his letters he encourages them to remember the moment that they first believed. In his time with the Thessalonians he must have covered the whole of what we know as the "Apostles Creed", the summary of God's revelation to the whole world, preached in the first century by Paul and all the Apostles, but not formalised until the fifth . 

He would have spoken to the Jews about the Messiah known from the Scriptures. The pagans would have had to have their idols broken. I do not know whether or not there was a deep belief, similar to that of the Jews' belief in IAMIAM, by the pagans in the spiritual reality of their gods. Julian tried to create one but failed.

 Paul did have some physical confrontations with "the synagogue" but with pagan devotees the most noteworthy one that I have noticed took place in Ephesus. There the Temple of Diana was the central bank of Asia Minor and its priests were concerned that international confidence in the strength of its deposits should not be undermined by these "nutters" from Jerusalem who were teaching that the things of this world are valueless.

The Resurrection is the "sun" of our faith. Everything we know of God's revelation begins with the impossibility of a man rising from the dead. The "Son of man must rise from the dead" was meaningless, even to those who had been Jesus' longtime disciples, until it happened. Jesus performed many miracles in his time on Earth but it was the Resurrection that became the core of the Faith that was reinforced by the Holy Spirit into the Apostles to be the irresistible message, the fire of faith that still burns on Earth although many of us forget and even deny it.

Dear Lord the devil left the man in the synagogue by the lake in fear of you. Would that the devil Mammon which we on Earth have allowed to take over your providence and your Church be destroyed. Fill the hearts of your priests with the spirit of Truth which will resist the "Fornication" and empty time-filling which was the "Sign of the Times" defeated by you and your Apostles in Ancient Rome and still with us. May Mary who is always the Immaculate one and all the Saints, who are now in the changeless state of grace of Heaven, bring your mercy to all sinners on Earth who are ready to become penitent and to those sure of salvation but suffering just punishment in Purgatory for their waste of your grace and Love when living on this world.