But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. These are [now] his witnesses before the people. We ourselves are proclaiming this good news to you that what God promised our ancestors he has brought to fulfillment for us, (their) children, by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second psalm, ‘You are my son; this day I have begotten you.’ (Acts 13:30-33 NABRE)
Luke's book of the Acts of the Apostles, recounts for us these words of Saint Paul's which he spoke to fellow Jews in Antioch in Pisidia some time after Jesus' Ascension. He was, of course, speaking to them about Jesus a carpenter from Nazareth, and I appreciate very much his clear, simple articulation of the continuity between what his Jewish brothers knew about their expected Messiah and the new message about this Jesus who was God's son.
It is a phenomenon about which I have to work constantly to maintain even my limited understanding: The one true God, who chose and established a special covenant relationship with this people thousands of years before, sent his only son to become a man, to live among us, to complete a mission of restoring a broken relationship between himself and all of mankind, and to begin establishing God's Kingdom here on earth.
Lord God, thank you for this creation and for the great gift of being made in your image. Thank you for the unreachable thought that you desire to be close to me. Thank you for the talents you have given me. Show me new ways to use them for your glory. And thank you for the joy, and the peace, and the mercy, and the love you constantly pour on me.
Today, on this Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter, I will look for the many connections between my day's events and the life of Jesus.
Saint Joseph the Worker, who trained Jesus in both the satisfactions and the drudgery of carpentry, pray for us.
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