Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter, Year B, First Reading (Acts 20:28-38)

At Miletus, Paul spoke to the presbyters of Ephesus. 28 “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your

Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter, Year B, First Reading (Acts 19:1-8)

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. 4 Paul

Tuesday of the 5th Week of Easter, Year B, First Reading (Acts 16:22-34)

22 The crowd [in Philippi] joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened

Monday of the 6th Week of Easter, Year B, First Reading (Acts 16:11-15)

11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. 13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to

Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year B, First Reading (Acts 9:26-31)

26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in

Why Read the Letter to Philemon?

Being such a short letter, it is easy to overlook Philemon. Added to this, it focuses on only one subject which concerns the personal relationship between two people who died long ago. However, it has a very real importance for us. Certainly, the very fact that it is recognized by all scholars as one of

Introduction to the Christ Hymn (Philippians 2:5-11)

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a

Background to the Letter to the Philippians

Paul founded the church in Philippi around 49AD. It was the first church he founded in Europe, and also the only congregation from which he took money for his own personal upkeep so he obviously thought very highly of it. More than any other congregation, Paul considered them his friends. The story of Paul’s missionary

Who Was St. Paul?

All Christians have heard of St. Paul, the former Pharisee (born Saul of Tarsus) and persecutor of the Church who, on the road to Damascus, came face to face with the risen Christ. This event changed his life and the history of the Church, as he became the chief figure in Christianity’s outreach to the