First Things First
September 17, 2025
Fr. John Riccardo
Beloved: First of all, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity. This is good and pleasing to God our savior, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth. For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as ransom for all. This was the testimony at the proper time. For this I was appointed preacher and apostle — I am speaking the truth, I am not lying —, teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
It is my wish, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument (1 Timothy 2:1-8).
“First of all, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority.”
Who is the “king” Paul is urging Timothy and the Christian community to pray for? Nero. Remember Nero? Declared Emperor of Rome at the age of 17, he was, to put it mildly, a bad man.
Nero killed his own mother. In fact, he unsuccessfully tried three different ways to kill her before finally having her either stabbed or clubbed to death in her villa. He also killed two of his wives, the second by kicking her to death. In 64, there was a devastating fire in Rome, which Nero was probably connected to, either in starting or preventing from quickly being put out so he could rebuild the city as he desired. As pressure mounted on him, he searched for a scapegoat upon whom to lay the blame and decided upon the Christian community in Rome. Thus, he began the first systematic persecution of the Church by the Roman Empire. He soon thereafter held a series of games in The Circus of Caligula and Nero across the Tiber River on Mons Vaticanus, that is, Vatican Hill. We have a record of these games from the Roman historian Tacitus, who graphically details how Nero had the Christians executed: they were crucified, sewn up inside animal skins and torn apart by wild dogs, or they were covered with pitch and set on fire at night as “living lamps,” so that the games could go on during the night. Saint Peter almost certainly dies in those games. Nero is the Emperor before whom Paul stood after he made his appeal to be judged by Caesar. And, finally, Nero is the one who was responsible for Paul being beheaded.
This is the “king” Paul is asking the Christian Churches to pray for. Why? Because, wicked as he was, God desires all to be saved. Not some. Not most. Not those who think like we do. Not “the good guys.” All. Do we? Do we really, I mean, really, lift up holy hands on behalf of those in authority – presidents, governors, and others?
In these days of intense feelings, often hostile rhetoric, and worse, let us be very careful how we speak about others. And most of all, first of all, with utmost confidence in God’s mercy and power, let us pray for them — perhaps especially for those we find it most difficult to love or like.
ACTS XXIX Prayer Intentions
September 2025
For Pope Leo XIV, that the Lord would bless him abundantly and bring to fulfillment all his intentions.
For our mission with the Archdiocese of Baltimore: that it may be a powerful moment of encounter with Jesus and a catalyst for mobilizing the local Church for mission.
For the leaders of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, BC, as they join us for a Leadership Immersive: that this experience would be a time of deep renewal, conversion, and transformation.
For Fr. John Riccardo, the ACTS XXIX missionaries, and our families: that the Lord would surround us with His protection and keep us steadfast in our mission.
For our Board of Directors, Episcopal Advisory Council, and faithful partners: that God would continue to reveal Himself ever more deeply to them, strengthening their lives and vocations as they build for His Kingdom.