I’ve been to Greece several times and have stopped in Athens and visited Mars Hill, the Areopagus, and the pagan sites like the Temple of Athens.
The view from Mars Hill
**Special credit to my Brother Mike for the video.
I can remember back in 2012 when we listened to our tour guide, Steve Ray, read from the Book of Acts, Chapter 17, while standing on the Areopagus.
Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said: “You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious. For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines, I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’
What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything. Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything.
Acts 17: 22-25
Twice a month I am blessed to be able to help with the daily readings. Always on the last two Wednesdays of the month. Imagine my surprise to be given this very same chapter and verse for today. After mass, someone remarked about how I looked inspired by the reading today. I shared the story about being on Mars Hill and listening to these very words right where they were spoken by the Apostle Paul. Yes, they were inspiring then and they still are today. Father Theo had a good homily on it as well. I had never heard that angle before. And just as I had felt proud to be able to read those very words, I’m sure Paul felt like he nailed the speech and was left astonished when it had no real impact on those folks at that moment. But like all the Word, it was planting a seed that must be nurtured by the Holy Spirit to bear fruit. Enjoy!
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