I am the living bread which has come down from heaven,
says the Lord.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever. JN 6:51
ACTS 8:26-40 ©
My Soul's Beloved,
The Spirit of the Lord was with Philip so mightily that he performed great miracles just as You had promised the Apostles and disciples - Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it. This is so evident in the early Church. From this passage, Lord, we know that God knows all things, God's hand is present in every aspect of our lives. God had already prepared the eunuch's heart to receive the grace of faith and baptism. Philip was wholly surrendered to the work of spreading the Good News and God used him mightily in this mission. Philip was available and he was ready to do all that God asked of him and because of this not only was the eunuch baptized but he in turn became a missionary and carried the Good News of salvation to Ethiopia.
To anyone who says that one only needs the Bible and the Holy Spirit to understand the Word of God, here is a powerful refutation of such a notion. The eunuch could make no sense of the passage that he was reading from the prophet Isaiah and when Philip questioned asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ He replied, ‘How can I unless I have someone to guide me?’ Anyone who thinks they can interpret God's Word without the aid of the Church is mistaken. She has Your assurance that she will teach inerrant truth because the Holy Spirit dwells in her in fullness. For over 2000 years the Church has handed down everything You said and did in the writing of Sacred Scripture and through Oral Tradition. Both are necessary if we are to understand God and the work of God in the Church and in the world.
Hubris causes many to believe that they rather than the Church together with the Holy Spirit can interpret His Word better than His Spirit and His Bride. Pride, ignorance, and a bullheaded determination to even consider that they could be utterly wrong are responsible for the continued fragmentation of the various protestant denominations. The work of Satan is to divide and rule, the work of the Holy Spirit is the perfect union between Christ, the Head of the Church, and His Body.
Philip was instrumental in introducing the eunuch to a deeper and fuller understanding of the Word of God which brought him to faith in You and a desire for baptism.
‘Look, there is some water here; is there anything to stop me being baptised?’ He ordered the chariot to stop, then Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water and Philip baptised him. But after they had come up out of the water again Philip was taken away by the Spirit of the Lord, and the eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. Philip found that he had reached Azotus and continued his journey proclaiming the Good News in every town as far as Caesarea.
All of us O Lord, who are members of Your Body, the Church, are given the same mission as Philip grant us the same passion to make the Good News known and a sensitivity to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
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