{"id":729,"date":"2012-07-11T14:15:00","date_gmt":"2012-07-11T19:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2011\/06\/for-new-testament-geography-i-wasnt-taught-in-rcia\/"},"modified":"2015-05-01T10:51:56","modified_gmt":"2015-05-01T15:51:56","slug":"for-new-testament-geography-i-wasnt-taught-in-rcia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2012\/07\/for-new-testament-geography-i-wasnt-taught-in-rcia.html","title":{"rendered":"For New Testament Geography I Wasn’t Taught in RCIA UPDATED"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
<\/div>\n

Originally posted on June 6, 2011, it took a while but it recently became worthy of an update.<\/em><\/p>\n

There will be no music post this morning folks, because music was presented here yesterday. Instead, I\u2019m just going to share the map above which shows color-coded tracks of the missionary journeys of St. Paul. As the title to the post suggests, none of this was taught to me while I was in RCIA<\/a>. I suspect that this is because it is more important to hear the Good News, than it is to learn New Testament geography.<\/p>\n

Now the cradle Catholics out there may have learned all of this in parochial school, but many of us converts learned this stuff in Sunday school as Protestants. Regardless of where we learned it, or not, the above map, which I found over at Loyola Press<\/em>, is a helpful reminder of the fact that soon after the Ascension, Christianity started spreading. And it started spreading through the efforts of missionaries. Guess what else? You are a missionary too.<\/p>\n

Though the simple map above does not show every single city that St. Paul mentions in his letters, or that he traveled through during his missionary trips, it does hit some of the \u201cbiggies.\u201d For example, we can see the Apostle\u2019s home town of Tarsus and note that he definitely wasn\u2019t from Israel. We can also see the cities and regions that received letters from St. Paul. Paul\u2019s letters, see, are the first books written in the New Testament, preceding the Gospels.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s trace those out briefly.<\/p>\n

City\/Region \u2013 St. Paul\u2019s Letters<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rome \u2013 Romans
\nCorinth \u2013 1st & 2nd Corinthians
\nGalatia \u2013 Galatians
\nEphesus \u2013 Ephesians
\nPhilippi \u2013 Philippians
\nColossae \u2013 Colossians
\nThessalonica \u2013 1st & 2nd Thessalonians<\/p>\n

It is apparent that St. Paul got around. The Loyola Press<\/em> website states that he traveled over 10,000 miles during the course of his missionary journeys. In his second letter to the church in Corinth, he describes the lovely traveling conditions in this manner,<\/p>\n

\u2026three times I was shipwrecked, I passed a night and a day on the deep; on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own race, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, \u2026 in toil in hardship, through many sleepless nights, through hunger and thirst, through frequent fastings, through cold and exposure.<\/em> (2 Corinthians 11:25-27)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Not exactly an AESU trip<\/a> or anything. Jerusalem to Rome is 1426 miles, and a three hour jet-propelled (as the crow flies) \u00a0flight nowadays. But from the air-conditioned comfort of a classroom, or your den, knowing where Paul went on his journeys, and being able to see them on a map, helps bring passages like the one from today\u2019s readings<\/a> alive to me.<\/p>\n

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior of the country and down to Ephesus where he found some disciples. He said to them, \u201cDid you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?\u201d They answered him, \u201cWe have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Stand by for a teaching on the Sacraments of Baptism<\/a> and Confirmation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cHow were you baptized?\u201d They replied, \u201cWith the baptism of John.\u201d Paul then said, \u201cJohn baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.\u201d When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. Altogether there were about twelve men. <\/em><\/p>\n

He entered the synagogue, and for three months debated boldly with persuasive arguments about the Kingdom of God.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Back before I was a Catholic, I had read this story with nary an observation that these guys were baptized and <\/em>confirmed. The part where \u201cand Paul laid his hands on them\u201d went completely over my head. Now I know better.<\/p>\n

Run on over to the Loyola Press<\/em> website now and check out their post on the Journeys of St. Paul.<\/a> While you\u2019re there, give their 3 Minute Retreat<\/a> <\/em> a look too. You\u2019ll be glad you did.<\/p>\n

Update: Micah Murphy has made some maps for us over at Truth & Charity<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Originally posted on June 6, 2011, it took a while but it recently became worthy of an update. There will be no music post this morning folks, because music was presented here yesterday. Instead, I\u2019m just going to share the map above which shows color-coded tracks of the missionary journeys of St. Paul. As the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85,232,36,37],"tags":[459,461,460,458],"class_list":["post-729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conversion-story","category-learning","category-living","category-working","tag-geography","tag-loyola-press","tag-maps","tag-st-paul"],"yoast_head":"\nFor New Testament Geography I Wasn't Taught in RCIA UPDATED<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Originally posted on June 6, 2011, it took a while but it recently became worthy of an update. 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