Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Acts 27, 30-38 He took bread, gave thanks to God

(Acts 27, 30-38) He took bread, gave thanks to God
[30] The sailors then tried to abandon ship; they lowered the dinghy to the sea on the pretext of going to lay out anchors from the bow. [31] But Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, "Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved." [32] So the soldiers cut the ropes of the dinghy and set it adrift. [33] Until the day began to dawn, Paul kept urging all to take some food. He said, "Today is the fourteenth day that you have been waiting, going hungry and eating nothing. [34] I urge you, therefore, to take some food; it will help you survive. Not a hair of the head of anyone of you will be lost." [35] When he said this, he took bread, gave thanks to God in front of them all, broke it, and began to eat. [36] They were all encouraged, and took some food themselves. [37] In all, there were two hundred seventy-six of us on the ship. [38] After they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat into the sea.
(CCC 294) The glory of God consists in the realization of this manifestation and communication of his goodness, for which the world was created. God made us "to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace" (Eph 1:5-6), for "the glory of God is man fully alive; moreover man's life is the vision of God: if God's revelation through creation has already obtained life for all the beings that dwell on earth, how much more will the Word's manifestation of the Father obtain life for those who see God" (St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 4, 20, 7: PG 7/1, 1037). The ultimate purpose of creation is that God "who is the creator of all things may at last become "all in all", thus simultaneously assuring his own glory and our beatitude" (AG 2; cf. 1 Cor 15:28).

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