Acts 9:10-19
10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Anani′as. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Anani′as.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus named Saul; for behold, he is praying, 12 and he has seen a man named Anani′as come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Anani′as answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to thy saints at Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon thy name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17 So Anani′as departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized, 19 and took food and was strengthened.
For all his gifts, strengths and later success, the bedrock of Paul’s new life in Christ is weakness. He learned through personal experience—beginning here—what he came to reflect upon much more as the years went by, that a sense of his own weakness is the only door for the Lord’s grace to enter in. “I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor 12:9.) He learned too that God’s grace works in the lives of others, often intertwining us in ways none can predict. Could Ananias or Paul have imagined they would be brothers in Christ? Ananias is the hero here, overcoming his fears, trusting the Lord, reaching out to Paul, baptizing him and bringing him into the life of the persecuted community. Surely this embrace had as much impact on Paul’s life as the Lord’s direct intervention on the road to Damascus.
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Willingness to boldly forgive, to overlook, to embrace offenders is at the heart of Christian life. Here is a prayer for times when this is a challenge.
Let peace abound in our small company. Purge out of every heart the lurking grudge. Give grace and strength to forbear and to persevere. Offenders, give us the grace to accept and to forgive offenders. Forgetful ourselves, help us to bear cheerfully the forgetfulness of others.
The prayer is by Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894). He spent his last years in Samoa, where every evening—following Samoan custom—he led prayers and singing of hymns for the household. He wrote many of the prayers himself, and fourteen years after his early death at age 44 his wife, Fanny, published the thin collection (Prayers, 1908.) I wasn’t aware of any of this but at Christmas I was given this little book and very much appreciate the realism, devotion and depth of feeling found there.
Metropolitan Leonty, Saint Tikhon’s Seminary, Father David and Rozanne Rucker
This past weekend Christopher Patton (STS Director of Communications and Publications) and Innocent Neal (STM Bookstore Manager) were at the Chancery scanning archive photos of Metropolitan Leonty and Saint Tikhon’s Seminary, in preparation for commemorations later this year of Metropolitan Leonty’s repose fifty years ago.
On Sunday, OCA missionaries Father David and Rozanne Rucker visited Saint Sergius Chapel. The Ruckers are mission specialists for the Orthodox Christian Missions Center (OCMC) will be on their way next week to a new assignment at Saint Herman Seminary in Kodiak, Alaska, where Father David will be teaching (their previous posting was in Guatemala.) Matushka Rozanne is a licensed marriage and family therapist and teacher. This week the Ruckers are at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary where Father David is participating in the Doctor of Ministry program. For more about the Ruckers, see their page on the OCMC website.