A Midsummer's Reflection Series

Wednesday, June 24, 2026 

A Midsummer's Christmas, the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist

Meditation 24: Acts 18:2-3 

The White Orchard, Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Arles, April 1888

We read about the early Christian married couple Aquila and Priscilla throughout the Letters of Paul. We first encounter them in the Book of Acts in 18:2-3.

Here we see that they begin to follow the Lord through Paul’s preaching which occurred by their side in the context of their ordinary daily work, since they shared with Paul the same occupation: tentmaking (18:3).

They’re even later used to help clarify Christian teaching about the gospel to Apollos (18:26). Aquila and Priscilla will be counted among Paul’s traveling companions spreading the gospel as missionaries (18:18).  

Aquila and Priscilla opened their home to Paul, as is implied when we read in the Book of Acts that Paul “stayed with them” (18:3). This was the common attitude and orientation of the earliest Christians; they lived hospitality with one another, sharing what they had with those in need.

Paul needed somewhere to stay while he was in Corinth (18:1), plying his trade as a tentmaker (18:3), and sharing the gospel in the synagogues on the sabbath (18:4). Thus, Aquila and Priscilla opened their home to him. 

We would do well to imitate the early Christians and find ways to share what we have with each other for the sake of the gospel. Perhaps we can share our food, or our homes. Perhaps we have money that we can share. Perhaps we can share our time, or maybe we have some skill that might be of benefit to someone else. In each of these ways we can live Christian hospitality with one another and be of mutual aid.  

Lord, help us provide for the needs of our Christian brothers and sisters, both near and far, in whatever ways we can. Help us live such Christian hospitality with tremendous generosity and with great love. In that way, help us to imitate the early Christians we read about in Sacred Scripture. 

Dr. Jeffrey Morrow, Ph.D. is a professor of theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville and the Director of the St. Paul Studies Center at the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. He spent 15 years as a professor of theology at Seton Hall University’s Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology. In his final year in that role, Dr. Morrow worked on the Preaching as Hospitality Formation Program, writing these reflections on Scripture through a lens of hospitality. 

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