We read at Mass: St. Paul traveled from Athens to Corinth. (Acts 18:1)
In Athens, Paul had found reverence for “The Unseen God.” He pointed out: This is the true God, the Almighty, Creator and Lord of heaven and earth. Totally beyond us. Greater than anything we can perceive.
Now, tourists still visit Athens—for good reason. To see the Acropolis, a relic of the sublime aesthetic and intellectual achievements of the ancient Greeks.
But where in the New Testament, in the sequence of St. Paul’s letters, do we find his letter to the Athenians?
Paul had proclaimed to them something that they chose not to believe. The Unseen God has revealed Himself. He became man, died, and rose from the dead in the flesh. What we could never have deduced about the Unseen God, He has taught us Himself–by pouring out His Holy Spirit. The Spirit strengthens us and lifts us up, to believe in Christ.
The unseen God loves us. Loves us as His children. Has a plan for us. Wills to share His own divine life with us.
We do not see Jesus, but we know Him. His Spirit unites us with Him. His Spirit is God, the ineffable Life of all that lives, the ineffable Light of all that beautifully shines. And He mercifully pours that Godliness of God into our hearts. To bring about a friendship that transcends our powers to describe.
Father Mark White Blog 