Endings and misunderstandings

The texts today  from the Roman Catholic Lectionary bring us to think about endings and misunderstandings. The end of the Book of Acts tells of Paul in Rome where he was imprisoned for two years. He was eventually martyred in Rome and Friar Jude Winkler reveals a traditional story that he travelled to Spain from Rome. His pattern of proclamation of the Good News, first to Jews, and then to Gentiles is repeated. This message was more important to Luke, who according to Winkler, is attempting to present Christians as "good citizens" to Rome and details of the execution of Paul is not going to support that position. The audience and authorship of the Sacred Texts is important research. This does not threaten their role in Revelation but it provides even more awe and wonder in the accounts. The end of the Gospel of John is a second ending which Friar Jude notes was written to address two misunderstandings in the early Christian community.  The Johnian Christians would be open to charismatic direction of the disciples, but the need for authority in the line of Peter is indicated. The death of the Beloved Disciple, before the return of Jesus caused some disruption in the community who misunderstood the teaching prior to the completion of the Gospel. The misunderstanding of teaching and motivation is on going and an area where the faithful need to continue to ask questions and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the resolution of contradiction in harmony with our experience of the Life in Jesus.