Word to the Wise
Wednesday, May 25, 2022 - 6th Week of Easter - Wed
[Acts 17:15, 22-18:1 and John 16:12-15]"You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious. 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. The God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything. Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything...." [Acts]
St. Luke the evangelist tells us in the Acts of the Apostles that when St. Paul visited Athens, he was exasperated by all the idols and shrines in that polytheistic society. He discovered that the Greeks "covered their bets" by having an altar to an "Unknown God" just in case! He began to debate with Jews and non-Jews alike and wound up in a public forum called the Areopagus. The preceding text to the one quoted above says, "Now all the Athenians as well as the foreigners residing there used their time for nothing else but telling or hearing something new!"
We can all benefit from reading St. Paul's address to the Athenians. Whether we believe it or not, we live in a kind of polytheistic society. There are all kinds of "altars" around us: economy, entertainment, political power, lifestyle, secular political "rights" such as guns, abortion, racism, etc. The attention we give to these altars can amount to worship.
Some of the audience scoffed at what St. Paul preached, especially about the resurrection of the dead, but others wanted to hear more. That is the best we can expect when we stand up for what we believe as Christians, especially as Catholic Christians. What is important is that we imitate as best we can the courage shown by St. Paul and his cleverness in using the altar to an Unknown God to speak of faith. AMEN