A Prayer for Camp
Priscilla and Aquila, Coworkers of the Apostle Paul
God of grace and might, who gave to your servants Aquila and
Priscilla gifts of zeal and eloquence to make known the truth of the Gospel:
Raise up, we pray, in every country, heralds and evangelists of your kingdom,
so that the world may know the immeasurable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
When Paul came to Corinth (probably in the year 50), he
met Priscilla (or Prisca) and her husband Aquila, tentmakers by trade like Paul,
Jewish, and just arrived from Rome, from which city the Emperor Claudius had
recently expelled the Jewish community. (The Roman historian Suetonius tells us
that Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome because they were rioting on account
of someone named Chrestus -- presumably referring to disputes between Christian
and non-Christian Jews.) It is not clear whether Aquila and Priscilla were
already Christians before meeting Paul, or were converted by his preaching.
After eighteen months, the three of them went together to Ephesus, where
Priscilla and Aquila remained while Paul continued to Antioch. Soon after, a
man named Apollos came to Ephesus, who had heard and believed a portion of the
Christian message, and was promoting that belief with eloquent preaching, based
on a thorough knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures. Aquila and Priscilla
befriended him and explained the Gospel to him more fully, after which he
continued to preach with even greater effectiveness.
In 1 Timothy 2:12, Paul writes: "I do not permit a woman to instruct or command a man." Jerome, writing over 3 centuries later, mentions a woman he knew, the Lady Paula, who was well equipped to discuss theology and the Scriptures, but who, in discussions with men, instead of simply saying what she thought, would innocently remark, "You know, that reminds me of something I once heard a man say -- his opinion was that...." Thus, she avoided the appearance of being a woman teaching a man, and yet got her point across. Now the Greek GYNE can mean either "woman" or "wife", and the Greek ANER (ANDRO-) can mean either "man" or "husband". Thus Paul may have meant, "I do not permit a wife to teach or command her husband." In interpreting his meaning, it is perhaps worth noting that we are told that Priscilla and Aquila, acting jointly, instructed Apollos in the Gospel, and there is no hint in the text that Aquila did all the talking while Priscilla hovered in the background and kept them supplied with sandwiches and coffee.
(Note: "Priscilla" is the diminutive form of "Prisca", as "Johnny" is the diminutive form of "John". Literally, it means "little Prisca." Diminutives are more common in many foreign languages (Latin, Spanish, Russian, Greek) than in English. They can denote affection, or distinguish from an older person, especially a relative, with the same name.)*
In the week following the Fourth of July, we will pray some of The Book of Common Prayer's prayers for National Life. Today’s prayer is 18 on page 820. La oración sigue en español. La oración sigue en español.