CHAPTER XIII.

THE HOLY GHOST DECREES THAT BARNABAS AND SAUL SHALL BE CHOSEN FOR THE WORK OF PREACHING TO THE GENTILES. THE MAGICIAN BAR-JESU IS STRUCK BLIND AT THE BIDDING OF PAUL. CONVERSION OF SERGIUS PAULUS.-ADDRESS OF PAUL TO THE SYNAGOGUE OF ANTIOCH OF PISIDIA.—BLASPHEMY OF THE JEWS. PERSECUTION EXCITED BY THEM.-CONVERSION OF THE GENTILES.

(a) "Now there were in the Church which was at Antioch, prophets (1) and doctors, among whom was Barnabas, and Simon, who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manahen, who was the foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. And as they were ministering to the Lord (2), and fasting, the Holy Ghost said to them: Separate me Saul and Barnabas, for the work whereunto I have taken them. Then they, fasting and praying (3), and imposing their hands upon them, sent them away."

(a) Chap. xiii. 1.

(1) Prophets who spoke by inspiration, and foretold what was to come, such as Agabus, of whom mention is made in chap. ii. and xxi.; doctors who expounded the sacred Scripture, according as it was read. Both the office and the name are preserved in the Greek Church, so that the title of doctor (or teacher) of the Gospel is given to him whose duty it is to explain the Gospel; doctor of the apostle to him who expounds the epistles of St. Paul; doctor of the psalter to the expounder of the Psalms, which also corresponds with our teachers of divinity, or theologians, except that, as M. Fleury remarks, the actual duty of the theologian is confined to the production of some sermons which he is not even obliged to compose himself.

(2) The Greek version has the liturgy, of which the literal meaning is, the public office (action). This word, in its general signification, means divine service. By the Greeks it is more especially used to signify sacrifice. So also is it understood in this text by many commentators.

(3) It will again be seen in the following chapter (ver. 22), that the ordination was accompanied by fasting and prayer; a practice which commenced with the very existence of the Church, and which has been perpetuated even to the present time.

But was this really an ordination, or was it merely an imposition of hands, purely deprecatory? This is a question on which commentators have not yet agreed. The probability is that it was an ordination, since we find nothing wanting of all the usual forms which precede and accompany ordination; fasting, prayer, even sacrifice itself, nor yet the imposition of hands. But it may be said that St. Paul, in his epistle to the Galatians, declares that he received nothing from men, as far as the knowledge of religion

"So they, being sent by the Holy Ghost," whose guidance they followed, as they had from him received their mission, the two apostles "went to Seleucia, and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. And when they were come to Salamina, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John also in their ministry. And when they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain man a magician, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-Jesu, who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, a prudent man (1). He, sending for Barnabas and Saul, desired to hear the word of God. But Elymas, the magician (2) (for so his name is interpreted) withstood them, seeking to turn away the proconsul from the faith. Then" (and here it is that the apostle of nations appears for the first time in his true character) "Saul, otherwise Paul (3), filled with the Holy Ghost, looking upon him, said: O full of all guile, and of all deceit, child of the devil, enemy of all justice, thou ceasest not to pervert the right ways of

and his vocation to the apostolate were concerned, yet we know that he received baptism from Ananias, and might just as well have received the sacerdotal and episcopal orders by the ordinary ministration. Thus a priest who is raised to the papacy receives nothing, as supreme pontiff, from the bishop who administered to him the episcopal consecration. From him he received his episcopal dignity; from the clergy of Rome, by whom he was elected, he is made bishop of Rome, but from God alone he holds his office as Pope of the universal Church, because of the order established by God that the successor of Peter · in the see of Rome should succeed to his primacy.

(1) This prudence, which was in him no more than a moral quality, could not merit the gift of faith, but it set aside the obstacles which might have impeded its growth. It is by the grace of God that man is faithful, as it is by his own folly that he is not. (2) Elymas does not signify a magician either in Greek or in Hebrew, and this has puzzled many interpreters. Still we must conclude that the word has had such a meaning, since St. Luke expressly says so. He alluded, it would seem, to some particular language-now no longer known. It might have been the ancient language of the Cyprians before the language of Greece prevailed in Cyprus. This is nearly the whole amount of what has been said on the subject.

(3) Henceforward he shall only be called Paul. It is more than probable that it was at this time he adopted that new name, and for this reason, that the Gentiles, to whom he was more especially sent, might be less unwilling to receive him, when he had a name to which their ears were accustomed. But did he take this name of himself, or at the request of the proconsul Sergius Paulus, or was it that the Gentiles, because of the resemblance of the two names, unwittingly changed Saul into Paul? All these suppositions are possible, but the only thing certain is, that the apostle did adopt the name, and never after gave himself any other.

the Lord. And now behold the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a time. And immediately there fell a mist and darkness upon him, and, going about, he sought some one to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul, when he had seen what was done, believed, admiring the doctrine of the Lord (1)."

"Now when Paul and they that were with him had sailed from Paphos, they came to Perge, in Pamphylia. And John," shrinking from a task so full of toil and danger, had not the courage to follow them. He, "departing from them, returned to Jerusalem. But they, passing through Perge, came to Antioch in Pisidia; and entering into the synagogue on the Sabbath-day, they sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue," according to the usual practice with regard to strangers,

"sent to them, saying: Ye men, brethren, if you have any word of exhortation to make to the people, speak. Then Paul, rising up, and with his hands bespeaking silence, said: Ye men of Israel, and you that fear God (2), give ear. The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people (3), when they were sojourners in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought them out from thence. And for the space of forty years endured their" unruly "manners in the desert. And destroying seven nations in the land of Chanaan, divided their land among them, by lot, as it

(1) This word expresses at once the doctrine and the manner in which St. Paul had proved it. Thus, when Jesus Christ drove out a devil by the power of his word: "they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying: What is this new doctrine? (Mark, i. 27). For with power he commandeth even the unclean spirits, and they obey him." The evangelical doctrine, when simply proposed, appears at a first glance sublime in its mysteries and perfect in its morality. A doubt may then arise whether it be from God, or is merely a beautiful conception of the human mind. The miracle by which it is proved must at once establish its divinity, and then the mind, freed from the embarrassment of doubt, yields itself entirely to admiration. Hence it was said that the proconsul, having seen the miracle, admired the doctrine.

(2) Besides those who were Jews, or Israelites by birth, they admitted into those assemblies proselytes and Gentile worshippers of the true God. It was to them that reference was made in the words: You that fear God.

(3) He exalted that people, and made their name famous, by the ten plagues wherewith he struck their cruel oppressors.

were, after four hundred and fifty years (1). And after these things he gave unto them judges, until Samuel the prophet. And after that they desired a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, forty years (2). And when he had removed him, he raised them up David to be king, to whom, giving testimony, he said: I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man ao cording to my own heart, who shall do all my wills. Of this man's seed God, according to his promise, hath raised up to Israel a Saviour, Jesus. John first preaching before his coming the baptism of penance to all the people of Israel. And when John was fulfilling his course, he said: he said: I am not he whom you think me to be: but behold there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose (3). Men, brethren, children of the stock of Abra ham, and whosoever among you fear God, to you the word of this salvation is sent. For they that inhabit Jerusalem, and the rulers thereof, not knowing him, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, judging him have fulfilled them. And finding no cause of death in him, they desired of Pilate that they might kill him. And when they had fulfilled all things that were written of him, taking him down from the tree, they laid him in a sepulchre. But God raised him up from the dead the third day: who was seen for many days by them who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who to this present are his witnesses to the people. And

(1) Between the birth of Isaac (which may be considered the origin of the chosen people), and the division by lot of the land of Chanaan, there is commonly reckoned four hundred and fifty years. Nearly all the commentators agree in saying that this was the period to which St. Paul here alludes.

(2) These forty years included the time of the government of Samuel, and the reign of Saul.

(3) Many years subsequent to the death of John the Baptist, and far away from Judea, where he had lived and died, St. Paul quotes his testimony in support of the divinity of Jesus Christ. This shows how far the fame of the holy precursor had spread, and how highly he was esteemed by the Jews all over the world. He is also quoted by the apostle St. John, in his Gospel, which was written more than fifty years after the precursor's death: another fact which proves that his testimony was deeply and indelibly impressed upon the minds of men. Doubtless all this tended to give weight and value to his evidence, but it was also supported by the fulfilment of the prophecies in him, since it had been foretold that the Messiah should be preceded by a prophet who would announce his approach, and prepare the way before him.

we declare unto you that the promise which was made to our fathers, this same God hath fulfilled to our children, raising up Jesus, as in the second Psalm also is written: Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee (1). And to show that he raised him up from the dead not to return now any more to corruption, he said thus: I will give you the holy things of David faithful. And therefore, in another place also he saith: Thou shalt not suffer thy Holy One to see corruption."

It was not David in person, but the Messiah, his Lord and his son, who was the object of these magnificent promises. "For David, when he had served in his generation according to the will of God, slept; and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption. But he whom God hath raised from the dead saw no corruption. Be it known therefore to you, men, brethren, that through him forgiveness of sins is preached to you; and from all the things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. In him every one that believeth is justified."

(1) St. Paul (Heb., i. 5) explains this text by the eternal generation of the Word. This is, in fact, its natural and literal meaning. Here he applies it to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which application is accounted for in various ways: 1st, It is explained as referring to the manifestation of the eternal generation, because that, in raising up his Son, God seems to have said to the entire universe: This is my Son, whom I have begotten from all eternity; you will recognize him by this prodigy. 2d, Others understand it as having reference to the resurrection itself, which in Scripture is often called regeneration. Hence the words: This day have I begotten thee, signify I have regenerated thee, that is to say, this day have I given thee a new birth. 3d, Though still preserving the literal meaning of this text, which is assuredly that of the eternal generation, many persons have applied it both to the incarnation and resurrection, and they do it in this way. By the personal union of the Word with human nature, a man was made the child of God, and in this sense God might say to that man: Thou art my son, and this day have I begotten thee. That man was no longer in existence after the death of Jesus Christ (notwithstanding that his two distinctive parts were each in existence, and that the Word still remained united thereto), so that there was no longer any man who could be called the begotten son of God. But this man having been re-made, if one may so express it, by the reunion of his parts, there was again in existence one to whom God might say on the day of the resurrection, as on that of the incarnation: Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. St. Paul appears to have connected these two meanings in commencing the epistle to the Romans, where, after saying that the Son of God was made to him of the seed of David, according to the flesh, he adds, who was predestinated the Son of God... by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead (Rom., i. ver. 3, 4).