“We lived next door to an older couple. My four-year old son liked to go over and visit with them. The couple enjoyed him, and he enjoyed them. Then the husband got sick and died. Soon after that, my son began to go to see the new widow even more often. I was worried he might be bothering her, but she ‘assured me that she was happy to have him. Finally, one day I asked my son, ‘What do you do when you go visit?’ He answered, ‘We sit next to each other, and I help her cry. ‘”
I do not know the source of this story I read years ago, but it has always stuck with me. Doubtless, the couple next door had been good to the little boy. They probably played together and listened to his adventures. They probably shared some cookies and milk. And he probably brightened up their days. A friendship grew.
But then, when circumstances changed, the friendship deepened. How did a four-year old child know to “sit and help her cry?” What made a four-year old choose to do that?
Today’s readings made me think of this story.
The Story from Acts
Today’s reading from Acts reads a bit like a letter from Aunt Mattie, chronicling her visits to relatives on the far side of the country—outlines of events, but not much detail. It tells a part of Paul’s third missionary journey. He has left Ephesus to revisit Christian settlements across Asia Minor (Turkey today).
Apollos, from Alexandria in Egypt, comes to Ephesus. He is a Scripture scholar and a willing, eloquent speaker—but he doesn’t quite know what he’s talking about. He is an unfinished disciple. He “speaks accurately of Jesus,” though he had only been baptized by John. Priscilla and Aquila, who had been left in Ephesus by Paul, hear Apollos. They recognize his unfinished talent and “took him aside and explained to him the Way more accurately.”
Apollos must have gotten things straight, because when he wanted to preach and teach in Greece, others in the Christian community encouraged him and sent him with letters of introduction. He spoke well there for the Christian perspective, “refuting the Jews in public, establishing from the Scriptures that the Christ is Jesus.”
Divine Providence
I often quote St. Paul and say, “All things work together for good for those who love the Lord.” (Romans 8:28). I tend to use it in the sense that “God brings something good to every circumstance if we trust and follow his Way.” But today’s story introduces a slightly different meaning: God intervenes in history. His intervention moves the universe and history toward goodness. God puts specific people in specific places to do his work—sometimes without people even realizing they are instruments of “Divine Providence.”
The narrative from Acts today gives several examples of Divine Providence: Paul was with the new church in Ephesus. When God called him back to his missionary journeys, God sent Apollos to Ephesus. Apollos was a great evangelist—except he had only been baptized with a baptism of repentance. He knew of Jesus, but he didn’t understand how Jesus was the Christ. God also brought Priscilla and Aquila to Ephesus. They had been trained by Paul. They helped Apollos get the full story. Once he had it, he moved on to Europe to evangelize.
Providence brought them all to Ephesus…and beyond…to do his work of building the Kingdom.
Today’s Gospel
We are almost to the end of the Farewell Address. Jesus says, “Whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now , you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.”
Who asked the Father in Christ’s name for strong leadership for the church in Ephesus? Was it Paul? Or was it some unknown member of the community who worried when Paul left—and prayed? How had Priscilla and Aquila prayed, that caused them to be in Ephesus? Or was it some unknown widow who longed for a woman to give her strong Christian leadership who brought them there? Or was it simply God’s providential plan? Were all these people pieces of the puzzle of God’s design?
God at Work in the Middle
Likewise, in the beginning story: Who prayed, that a four-year old child would be such a person of comfort to his grieving friend? Did she pray? Or did her husband, now with God, ask God to send someone to her? Or was it a mother’s prayer, “Lord, help my child learn to be loving and giving.”
Of course, we do not know the answers to any of those questions. And, that’s the point of the reflection today: God is here in the middle of the world and in the middle of our lives–whether we realize it or not. God’s love creates his ongoing involvement in history—not just at the meta-level, but for each and every individual.
And, not just for each and every individual, but on the meta-level, too. Apollos gave Paul some trouble in Corinth. After both had left, dissension broke out. People were saying, “I belong to Paul” or “I belong to Apollos.” That dissension, described in I Corinthians 3, led to guidance for us today when we get too attached to one leader or another: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (I Corinthians 3:6)
Working from Home
Fr Jim Sichko, a papal missionary from our diocese, has a way with pithy words. Yesterday on Twitter he quipped, “Ascension: That’s when Jesus started working from home.” As our Gospel concludes today, Jesus said, “For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I have come from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit continue to work in history, in our lives. They are working from home in heaven. We work here, inspired by the Holy Spirit, to do small things with great love…and continue to build the Kingdom of God. We are pieces in God’s design. We see the puzzle. God puts us each in our place to create the whole picture.
Prayer
Lord, today help me to do my part to bring about goodness in the world. While You work from home, help me to work here, where you put me
