Friday, June 7, 2013
Appeal to Caesar
Dear Friends,
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles (25:1:12):
Three days after his arrival in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem where the chief priests and Jewish leaders presented him their formal charges against Paul. They asked him as a favor to have him sent to Jerusalem, for they were plotting to kill him along the way. Festus replied that Paul was being held in custody in Caesarea and that he himself would be returning there shortly. He said, “Let your authorities come down with me, and if this man has done something improper, let them accuse him.”
After spending no more than eight or ten days with them, he went down to Caesarea, and on the following day took his seat on the tribunal and ordered that Paul be brought in. When he appeared, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him and brought many serious charges against him, which they were unable to prove. In defending himself Paul said, “I have committed no crime either against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar.”
Then Festus, wishing to ingratiate himself with the Jews, said to Paul in reply, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and there stand trial before me on these charges?” Paul answered, “I am standing before the tribunal of Caesar; this is where I should be tried. I have committed no crime against the Jews, as you very well know. If I have committed a crime or done anything deserving death, I do not seek to escape the death penalty; but if there is no substance to the charges they are bringing against me, then no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.”
Then Festus, after conferring with his council, replied, “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go.”
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Tomorrow evening I will have a Healing Service in the Chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Prince Edward Island. I will pray for all those who have written to me. May the Lord bless you all.
Below you will find the message of Our Lord and Savior, the Son of God, given to Father Melvin. Jesus spoke to him these words,
“Listen to My call, My brother Melvin and all My brothers and sisters who live in union with Me. I called Saint Paul to go to Rome to bring the Good News to that great city. So at the trial in front of Felix, he refused to go to Jerusalem and so he appealed to the Emperor in Rome. The tribunal gave him the permission and in time he was transferred to Rome. There he lived some years to preach about Me and to welcome many Romans into My Church. Although he was under threat, he did not stop calling the people to believe in Me and to follow Me.
“I call you all, My brothers and sisters, to be missionaries to the people with whom you live. You know that there are many who were going to church but now they stopped going. Pray for these people that they may come back to Me and go to church regularly. Visit them and do not be afraid to talk to them about Me. I will give you the graces needed so you can teach them well and to call them to believe. I will give them the gift of faith and they will return to Me. I love you all and I bless you all.”
Father Melvin