“Keep On Keeping On” by Colleen O’Sullivan
For as I
walked around looking carefully at your shrines, I even discovered an altar
inscribed, 'To an Unknown God.' What therefore you unknowingly worship, I
proclaim to you. (Acts 17:23)
Jesus said to his disciples: "I have much more to tell you, but you
cannot bear it now. But when he comes,
the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.” (John 16:12-13a)
Piety
O Lord, may I be like St. Paul in refusing to be
defeated by disappointment. Grant me the
ability to persevere in difficult times.
Study
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| Saint Paul Preaching in Athens, Giovanni Paolo Panini, 1734, National Gallery of Art, Creative Commons Lic., Wikimedia Commons |
During Paul’s lifetime, the Romans may have been the
political rulers, but if a person were looking for culture, then Athens was the place to visit. Waiting for his friends
Silas and Timothy to join him in Athens, Paul spent his time strolling the
streets of this great city, taking particular note of the Athenians’ shrines to
the various gods. One in particular that
caught his eye was dedicated to an “unknown God.” That would have piqued my curiosity as
well. We have a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
at Arlington National Cemetery, but an unknown god? In the Living
Space commentary on today’s reading, the author explains it this way: Polytheists (like the Greeks) used to
dedicate altars to ‘unknown gods’, in case they incurred the vengeance of gods
whose names they did not know. It was a kind of all-inclusive title. i
Paul took this concept of an unknown god and used
it to tell the people about the one, true God who created all that is, the God whose
hope is that all human beings will seek God, the God whose offspring we all
are. This God wants everyone to repent
because there will come a day of judgment presided over by a man God has
appointed, a man God raised from the dead.
Paul’s presentation was well thought out, but the
idea of resurrection from the dead proved to be a stumbling block that not even
this great evangelizer could surmount. Some
people became Christians, but not as many.as the Apostle had hoped.
That’s how things go sometimes. You work to make a friend and be a friend,
only to discover that the individual isn’t about to be brought to Christ or maybe
they just don’t want to be part of Cursillo.
You invite someone to go on a weekend and they look at you like you have
three heads. Jesus knows that not all
our attempts to attract followers will meet with success. When he sent his first disciples out, he told
them that if they received no welcome in any village, they should just shake
the dust off their feet and go elsewhere.
The Lord also told the parable of the sower. Not every seed we sow in the name of the Lord
is going to take hold and grow. But he
also tells us that in the end there will be a bountiful harvest.
Paul didn’t let his experience in Athens stop
him. He went from there to Corinth. This Apostle continued to make journeys in
the name of Jesus Christ and met with greater success elsewhere.
Action
Attempting to bring people to Christ can be
disheartening at times. I’m sure Paul
would have agreed after his speech in Athens.
But he didn’t let disappointments
defeat him, because the Holy Spirit is often at work unseen and, when we least
expect it, our efforts bear fruit for the Kingdom. Once, out of the blue, I received a note from
a friend telling me that my sharing of my faith had been instrumental in her
return to the Church. I never expected
that. And, sometimes when we invite
people to go on a weekend, they say yes and have a great faith experience. What I take away from Paul’s experience is
that the best course of action is simply to keep on keeping on and leave the
results to God.
When you are praying today, share with Jesus what
you are doing to invite others to walk with God.
Image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giovanni_Paolo_Panini,_Saint_Paul_Preaching_in_Athens,_1734,_NGA_131305.jpg
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