Word to the Wise
Saturday, May 23, 2009 - Saturday in the Sixth Week of Easter
[Acts 18:23-28 and John 16:23b-28]A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, an eloquent speakier, arrived in Ephesus. He was an authority on the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord, and, with ardent spirit, soke and taught accurately about Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the Way of God more accurately.
One thing we learn right away from reading the Acts of the Apostles is that Jesus did not hand his disciples a catechism. There was no "operating manual" beyond what he taught them orally and through his actions. The first preachers had a very simple message: He is risen! The message didn't stay simple very long, however. The diversity of voices required considerable adjustment. There was the question of Jewish/Gentile converts and how they were to be admitted to the community! There was the question of the role of John the Baptist in the rapidly growing "story" of Jesus. Apollos is a case in point. He was preaching about Jesus but he was presenting baptism in the way John the Baptist preached it - a symbolic form of repentance, not an identification with Jesus' death and resurrection. This latter theology was the one St. Paul developed and when Paul's disciples, Priscilla and Aquila heard Apollos, they knew they had to give him some "instruction" so that he would get "on message!" After 2000 years of reflection on the story of Jesus and the development of the Church, we have a Catechism, a Code of Canon Law and a vast body of teachings by Church Fathers, Popes, Saints, etc. etc. There is still a diversity of voices. The different theological perspectives just within the Catholic universe - the Eastern and Western churches - should alert us to the richness and depth of the Christian message. All the Catechism can do is to collect it and try to give at least an "orthodox" distillation of it! Through it all, we should remember the original message: He is risen! Alleluia! AMEN
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