Reading 1
Acts 11:1-18
The Apostles and the brothers who were in Judea
heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God.
So when Peter went up to Jerusalem
the circumcised believers confronted him, saying,
‘You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.”
Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying,
“I was at prayer in the city of Joppa
when in a trance I had a vision,
something resembling a large sheet coming down,
lowered from the sky by its four corners, and it came to me.
Looking intently into it,
I observed and saw the four-legged animals of the earth,
the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky.
I also heard a voice say to me, ‘Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.’
But I said, ‘Certainly not, sir,
because nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
But a second time a voice from heaven answered,
‘What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.’
This happened three times,
and then everything was drawn up again into the sky.
Just then three men appeared at the house where we were,
who had been sent to me from Caesarea.
The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating.
These six brothers also went with me,
and we entered the man’s house.
He related to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, saying,
‘Send someone to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter,
who will speak words to you
by which you and all your household will be saved.’
As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them
as it had upon us at the beginning,
and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said,
‘John baptized with water
but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us
when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
who was I to be able to hinder God?”
When they heard this,
they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying,
“God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.”
Gospel
Jn 10:1-10
Jesus said:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate
but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.
But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice,
as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has driven out all his own,
he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him,
because they recognize his voice.
But they will not follow a stranger;
they will run away from him,
because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.”
Although Jesus used this figure of speech,
they did not realize what he was trying to tell them.
So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
I am the gate for the sheep.
All who came before me are thieves and robbers,
but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the gate.
Whoever enters through me will be saved,
and will come in and go out and find pasture.
A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy;
I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”
Meditation: Acts 11:1-18
The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating. (Acts 11:12)
By sending Peter to Cornelius—a pagan from Caesarea—God gave him the opportunity of a lifetime. Finally, God’s plan to gather the Gentiles to himself was coming to fulfillment. The centuries-long hatred between Gentile and Jew was about to be broken. The witness of a united church was about to shine in the world. And God was calling Peter to be the one to break through the barrier.
Peter could have stuck to his guns. He could have remained adamant in his Jewish upbringing and refused to go. But this once stubborn fisherman had been changed. Not sure exactly what would happen, he decided to follow the Lord’s promptings and take a chance. And the result was amazing: Before Peter could even finish telling Cornelius and his family about Jesus, the Holy Spirit swept over them and filled their hearts. That’s how eager God was to inaugurate a new era of unity in his church!
What has happened to that unity? Today we see Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox divided against each other. Ancient feuds, ages-old misunderstandings, and even political considerations all conspire to keep us divided. Of course, there are doctrinal issues that need to be overcome. But as Pope Benedict XVI has affirmed, we have so much more that unites us than what divides us. If we could just keep our eyes focused on our common heritage, we would surely find a way to resolve the differences that remain.
But what about unity within our own church? Surely we can find ways to overcome the divisions between progressives and traditionalists and between cradle Catholics and new converts. Surely we can affirm all that we have in common—the Eucharist, centuries of history, a common teaching, and a spiritual tradition that is as deep as it is wide. Surely we can accept each other as brothers and sisters in Christ! Yes, there are different opinions and approaches, but we are still one body joined by a common baptism. Imagine the impact it would have on the world if we made love our common goal!
“Lord, make your people one!”
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