Day 167: King Agrippa and Bernice Arrived in Caesarea on a Visit to Festus
Acts 25:13b-21
This episode breaks up the trials and ministry of Saint Paul. This is an interesting passage on a number of levels. The first is that Luke is naming people who would be on the tier of our most famous celebrities. If his accounts were false, they would have been quickly dismissed; but as a good historian, Luke does his work and makes note of these famous figures. The second is the outside, upper class view of the Jesus situation that Pilate and Herod got wrapped up in before this Christian movement really began to get some traction.
Festus notes the peculiarity of Paul’s trial before the tribunal. His curiosity leads him to attend the trial, and has he says, “they brought no charge in his case of such evils as I supposed;” (Acts 25:18), “but they had certain points of dispute with him about their own superstition and about one Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive,” (Acts 25:19).
“Christianity is not a matter of persuading people of particular ideas but of inviting them to share in the greatness of Christ. So pray, that I may never fall into the trap of impressing people, with clever speech, but instead, I may learn, to speak with humility, desiring only to impress people with Christ Himself.”
Saint Ignatius of Antioch
People typically know what they do not like but there is something about peculiar things that captures one’s interest. Father Joseph Anthony Kress O. P. says that he has had more conversations about what he is while wearing his habit. People confuse him with a larper, a wizard, and a few other interesting people. But the habit is a way for him to introduce the person of Christ to those who might not know him at the University of Virginia.
Therefore, do not be afraid to do certain things in public, like praying before a meal, reading Scripture, or praying in a group. There will be some people who will automatically be turned off, but, living in a post-Christian society, it might pique someone’s interest and it can be an avenue of conversation.
Prayer: Lord, help me to introduce people to Christ and entrust their heart to the Spirit