Acts 25:6-12. After about ten days in Jerusalem, Festus returns to Cesarea and calls Paul before him. The Jews who had come from Jerusalem to accuse Paul bring against Paul "many serious charges which they could not prove." Paul says in his defense that he has not offended the law of the Jews, nor the temple, nor Caesar. Festus, trying to do the Jews a favor, asks Paul if he would like to be tried in Jerusalem, but Paul says "I am standing before Caesar's tribunal where I ought to be tried; to the Jews I have done no wrong, as you know very well." Paul goes on to say if he has done something deserving of death, he is not seeking to escape it, but if no one can bring any valid charges against him, he would like to appeal to Caesar. Festus confers with his counsel and agrees, saying "You have appealed to Caesar; to Caesar you shall go."

These endless hearings where the Jews bring against Paul false charges, or true charges which don't amount to any crime, are getting tiring! It is a credit to Paul that he remains calm and just keeps pointing out that he did nothing wrong and is being held unjustly. Paul never reacts with the same anger and frustration as the Jews, although he has every right to. He just keeps appealing up the chain of command, staying within the lawful order of the place he finds himself.

This is a great lesson for us as we head in head into a time of persecution. We, like Paul, are in a time and place where Christian values articulated truthfully arouse great anger and even potential violence. This is because a secular religion has developed (some would say it has been purposely constructed - See, e.g. Aa-1025, full text here). This "religion" began by parroting certain teachings of Christ (e.g., "love one another") to begin gradually leading people astray, such as by equating love with tolerance of all things. Now this religion has taken root, even within the Catholic Church, and its adherents believe they are the true Christians or Catholics, so that while those questioning immoral secular values are being attacked from outside the Church, they are also being censored from within. It is a dangerous place to be, just as Jerusalem was a dangerous place for Paul.

I think the reason I was inspired to focus on Acts these last months is that there are so many lessons and examples for today's Church and today's believers in this book. In today's reading, Paul shows us how to handle the anger, lies, and bad intent of even those of our own faith who attack us by staying calm and appealing to authority. We must not allow their anger to provoke us into any actual wrongdoing, and instead just calmly proclaim our innocence at every turn, even appealing all the way to Caesar if necessary. Unfortunately, many in our government are also believers in this new religion, and may want to "do a favor" for our accusers, but our justice system is still the best chance we have for, well, justice. Even if justice is not done, however, we will know that we have always acted appropriately and have "run the race" if we continue to act like Paul.