Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Paul’s Rights as an Apostle
Dear Friends,
A reading from Saint Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 9:1-12a):
Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? Although I may not be an apostle for others, certainly I am for you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
My defense against those who would pass judgment on me is this. Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to take along a Christian wife, as do the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Kephas? Or is it only myself and Barnabas who do not have the right not to work? Who ever serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating its produce? Or who shepherds a flock without using some of the milk from the flock?
Am I saying this on human authority, or does not the law also speak of these things? It is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is God concerned about oxen, or is he not really speaking for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope, and the thresher in hope of receiving a share. If we have sown spiritual seed for you, is it a great thing that we reap a material harvest from you? If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we still more?
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Today we should have a beautiful sunny day for a change. It has been raining for over a week.
Below you will find the message of Our Lord and Savior given to Father Melvin. Jesus spoke to him these words,
“Be proud to be Christians, My brother Melvin and all My brothers and sisters who have been baptized in the baptism I left you. Every Christian is baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. All sins are forgiven and I come and live in your heart. You become truly a Christian and you belong to Me. Saint Paul too was baptized and became a Christian and then he received a special call from Me to be an apostle. He worked very well in many countries to bring many people into My Church, and he taught them in a marvelous way all I had taught the apostles. Pray to Saint Paul that he intercedes for you so that your faith may be strong as his and that you will have the strength to face any problem like him. At the end Saint Paul died a martyr in Rome. He is a great saint of the church. Learn from him by reading his letters: they are a goldmine of information and they express his love for every person. I bless you all.”
Father Melvin