Good morning. Yesterday, I shared how incredibly busy Paul and his companions were as they carried out their mission to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. They traveled to Antioch, Pisidia, Inconium, Lystra, Asia Minor, Europe, and the list goes on and on. In today’s first reading, we learn that Paul also had a “day job”. He was a tentmaker like Aquila and Priscilla. We hear that Paul “went to visit them and, because he practiced the same trade, stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.”
Like all of us, Paul had to work to make a living. However, his passion, what gave his life its true meaning and purpose was to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with the people that he encountered. We hear that “[every] sabbath, [Paul] entered into discussions in the synagogue, attempting to convince both Jews and Greeks.” And “[when] Silas and Timothy came down. . ., Paul began to occupy himself totally with preaching the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.” In the busyness of his life, between making a living as a tentmaker, probably to support his mission. . . going all over the place to proclaim the Good News, Paul was “content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ. . .” (2 Corinthians 12:10).
My sisters and brothers in Christ, when we take a moment to reflect on Paul’s passion and zeal to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ, we begin to realize that Paul knew exactly what Jesus meant when he said to his disciples, in today’s Gospel: “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me. . . Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.” We can get a sense of Paul’s desire to be with Christ for eternity from his letter to the Philippians, in which he wrote: “For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. . . I long to depart this life and be with Christ, [for] that is far better. . .” (1:21). However, Paul also understood the mission that Jesus had given him in his life, saying: “Yet that I remain [in] the flesh is more necessary for your benefit. And this I know with confidence, that I shall remain and continue in the service of all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that your boasting in Christ Jesus may abound on account of me when I come to you again.“ (, 23-26).
I am sure we can all agree that our hope is that a little while later, we will see our Lord Jesus Christ and that the grief that we presently feel, from being separated from God, will become joy in heaven. However, until that time comes, we can look to Paul as an example of how we should live our lives in a way that our Lord Jesus Christ is always at the center of everything that we do. We must work to provide and care for our families and those who depend on us, no doubt about it. However, we can certainly find the time to worship God, share the Good News of Jesus Christ with those we encounter (especially with our own family members and friends), allow the Holy Spirit to guide us to all truth, and help others come and follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. After all, this is the mission that Jesus has given to all of us.
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