Tuesday, 4/26/16
The first reading recounts the events of the first missionary
journey of Paul and Barnabas. They had landed on the southern shore of what
today is Turkey. They travelled north to the central town on Antioch, founding
the Church there. From there they travelled eastward, establishing the church
in Iconium, Lystra, then Derbe.
Then, they retraced their steps from Derbe, to Lystra, Iconium
and Antiouch, and in each place they appointed presbyters to lead the church
there.
We can sat that they appointed priests in each place. If you
look up the word “priest” in Webster’s dictionary it will tell you that “priest”
is a contraction of the word “presbyter.”
The word “presbyter” has an old Indo=European origin. The
core syllable “byt” was originally the name for an “ox.” So, a presbyter is
actually a “lead ox.” From that we see that our priests should be like the lead
oxen yoked to pulling the load. They should not be like the masters cracking their
whips from up in the chariot.
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