----- Original Message -----
From: Richard <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Cc: TradCathHomeschool <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, January 29, 2006 7:27 AM
Subject: CTAC- January 29th - Lydia, Dorcas, Phoebe


> January 29th - Lydia, Dorcas, Phoebe: Co-Workers with the Apostles
>
> Lydia is mentioned in Acts 16:11-15,40. When Paul on his second missionary
> journey carried his preaching out of Asia and into Europe, he began at the
city
> of Philippi in Macedonia (north of Greece). His first European convert was
a
> woman named Lydia, a merchant who dealt in purple-dyed goods. (Purple dye,
made
> from a certain mollusk, was extremely expensive. One use of it was for the
> stripes in the togas of Roman senators. Lydia's occupation suggests that
she had
> considerable capital.) She and her household were baptized, and she
invited
> Paul, with Luke and his other companions, to make her house their
headquarters
> in Philippi.
>
> Dorcas (or Tabitha in Aramaic-both names mean "gazelle") is mentioned in
Acts
> 9:36-42. She was a member of the early Christian community in Joppa, a
seacoast
> town of Israel, and noted for her acts of charity, in particular for
making
> garments and giving them to needy widows. When she fell ill and died,
Peter came
> to see her, and raised her to life. His words to her, "Tabitha, kumi,"
(Tabitha,
> arise), are reminiscent of the words of Jesus to the daughter of Jairus,
> "Talitha, kumi," (little girl, arise) as given in Mark 5:41. Whether this
is
> anything more than coincidence is hard to say. If the Aramaic words of
Jesus had
> been quoted by Luke rather than by Mark, one might suppose that Luke was
> underscoring a resemblance between the two episodes (the reader is invited
to
> look up both stories, the former in M 9:18-26 = P 5:22-43 = L 41-56 and
the
> latter in A 9:36-42). As it is, I am not sure that Luke (or Peter,
presumably
> Mark's source for his account) intends a connection.
>
> Phoebe (the name means "bright" or "radiant": Apollo and Diana, the god
and
> goddess of the sun and moon respectively, were often referred to as
"Phoebos"
> and "Phoebe"), was a DIAKONOS of the Church at Chenchreae, the eastern
seaport
> of the city of Corinth. (Corinth was on a narrow isthmus that connected
southern
> Greece (the Peleponessus) with northern Greece and the mainland of Europe.
> Attempts had been made to dig a canal through the isthmus in order to
shorten
> shipping routes, but no attempt was successful till modern times.
Accordingly
> many ships were simply dragged out of the water, put on rollers, and moved
> across the isthmus and into the water on the other side. Naturally, the
crew got
> shore leave. Naturally, Corinth became famous as a port that accommodated
> sailors with shore leave. This may account for the fact that Paul has a
great
> deal more to say about sexual matters when writing to the Corinthians than
he
> does in other connections.) When Paul mentions her, she has left the
vicinity of
> Corinth and is in Rome, so that Paul commends her to the Church there.
>
> There has been some dispute about whether Paul means to say that she was a
> "deacon" in the Church (holding the same office held later by Athanasius
in
> Alexandria and Lawrence in Rome), or whether he refers to another office,
that
> of the "deaconess," not the same as a female deacon (but in that event,
one
> would have expected a feminine form of the word), or whether he is simply
using
> the word in a non-technical sense to mean someone known for her
helpfulness and
> service to the Church. He calls her a DIAKONOS, a word which the KJV
translates
> as "deacon" three times (Philippians 1:1, 1 Timothy 3:8,12), as "servant"
seven
> times (including the reference to Phoebe) and as "minister" twenty times
> (including references to Paul himself). It is a word that originally had
the
> meaning in secular Greek of "someone who is responsible for, attends to,
> ministers to, or waits on a person or group of persons or a task or area
of
> responsibility." Later, it came to be used in a technical sense to denote
a
> certain office in the church. One has to guess from the context whether it
is
> being used in the technical sense or in the older, descriptive sense. A
similar
> problem sometimes arises with ANGELOS, which is Greek for "messenger,
bringer of
> news." The form EUANGELOS means "bringer of good news," and gives rise to
our
> word "evangelist." When mysterious beings gave messages to men from God,
and
> then disappeared, they were called "messengers of God," or simply
"messengers,"
> and so ANGELOS came to mean sometimes "messenger" and sometimes "angel."
> Sometimes the context does not make it clear which is meant. Again, the
Greek
> MARTYROS means "witness," but came to refer to the particular kind of
witness
> who says, "Jesus is Lord," when he faces death for saying it. Hence,
MARTYROS is
> sometimes to be translated "witness" and sometimes "martyr." Similarly,
> EPISCOPOS can mean "overseer" or "bishop," and PRESBYTEROS can mean "older
> person" or "presbyter, priest."
>
> Phoebe was in any event a person of consequence in a congregation near
Corinth,
> someone who had made a valuable contribution there.
>
> This version taken from:
> http://elvis.rowan.edu/~kilroy/JEK/01/29.html
>
>
> <><><><>
> Martyrology
>
> At Rome, on the Via Nomentana, the holy martyrs Papias and Maurus,
soldiers, in
> the time of the Emperor Diocletian. At their first confession of Christ,
> Laodicius, the prefect of the city, ordered their mouths to be pounded
with
> stones. After this, they were cast into prison and beaten with clubs; then
they
> were flogged with lead-tipped scourges until they died.
>
> At Perugia, St. Constantine, bishop and martyr. Together with his
companions, he
> received the crown of martyrdom for his defence of the faith under the
Emperor
> Marcus Aurelius.
>
> At Milan, St. Aquilinus, priest, whose throat was pierced with a sword by
the
> Arians, thus receiving the crown of martyrdom.
>
> At Edessa in Syria, the holy martyrs Sarbellius and his sister Barbea, who
were
> baptized by Bishop Blessed Barsimaeus. They were crowned with martyrdom
under
> Lysias the governor in the persecution of Trajan.
>
> Near Troyes (in Gaul), St. Sabinian, martyr, who was beheaded for the
faith of
> Christ at the command of Aurelian the Emperor.
>
> At Bourges in Aquitaine, St. Sulpicius Severus, bishop, remarkable for his
> learning and virtues.
>
>
> <><><><>
> Prayer
>
> Almighty God, who didst inspire thy servants Lydia, Dorcas
> and Phoebe to uphold and sustain thy Church by their loving
> and generous deeds: Give us the will to love thee, open our
> hearts to hear thee, and strengthen our hands to serve thee
> in others for the sake of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who
> liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God,
> now and for ever.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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