Save Rent, Buy a Paul Made Tent!

Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus,
who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla
because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome.
He went to visit them and because he practiced the same trade,
stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.
Every Sabbath, he entered into discussions in the synagogue,
attempting to convince both Jews and Greeks.

When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia,
Paul began to occupy himself totally with preaching the word,
testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.
When they opposed him and reviled him,
he shook out his garments and said to them,
"Your blood be on your heads!
I am clear of responsibility. 
From now on I will go to the Gentiles."
So he left there and went to a house
belonging to a man named Titus Justus, a worshiper of God;
his house was next to a synagogue.
Crispus, the synagogue official, came to believe in the Lord
along with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians
who heard believed and were baptized.

You have to admire Paul. Not only was he a tireless worker for the Lord, he did his ministry while supporting himself by plying his trade as a tentmaker. Everywhere he went, he brought the Good News with him and gave it out freely to all who would stand and listen. Not everyone was delighted to hear what Paul had to say.  At times, some of the people he was talking to would take great exception to the Gospel and with inflamed self-righteousness, they would attempt to harm Paul.  He knew the risks but he also had faith in the mission he and the other Apostles had been given.  He also knew there might come a day when he would be called to make the ultimate sacrifice for the Lord.  He placed his trust in God and in Jesus and he relied on the Holy Spirit to give him strength when like all men he tired or became disappointed at the reception his preaching got him.  Paul was an all or nothing sort of guy.  When he was against the followers of Christ, he pursued them with all of his heart and soul placed into his effort.  Then, after having some sense knocked into him and coming to the Lord, his was as just as passionate about the Gospel as he had been against it.  

We have the benefit of hindsight.  We have enough evidence at our disposal that proves to us the truth of the Gospel.  We have seen in our families and perhaps in our own lives the touch of Jesus either through the ether on a spiritual plain or through the kindness of another person taking action on our behalf and bringing the Gospel to us through their example. 

I believe that more often than not, Paul's message fell on deaf ears. Yet, he carried on and kept announcing the Gospel to all within the sound of his voice.  In every crowd, the seed might fall on one or two people who were moved by what they heard.  That is pretty slim pickings for the hours of toil that Paul put into his ministry.  

It is hard for us too when we evangelize those nearest and dearest to us.  We know the truth, we know what they need to have, and yet sometimes they have no interest in spiritual things.  We cannot force a person to believe.  Belief in God is a gift that is given to all but not all of those who receive the gift accepts the gift.  Like Paul. we have to be there to gently remind them it is there for them and then we have to go back to making our tents and looking for opportunities to spread the word. 

The Protestants contribute millions of souls to Purgatory every year.  These people who lived a life worthy of eventual unity with God in heaven, languish in Purgatory because none of their fellows in life will pray for them because they do not believe in Purgatory.  Please help a soul today and pray for the Poor Souls.