“God shows no bias.” Really? Even between those who cheat migrant workers and those who risk their lives for others? What will happen to Vladimir Putin and the Ukrainians, or Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian children? how is it…? Well, you name them.
If this applies to us, it’s a big deal. Peter and the early Christians faced this kind of dilemma when the “Gentiles” (read pagan idolaters) began to share the same faith as their disciples and Jewish converts. For them, and for us, accepting the breadth of God’s love may involve more than we are willing to give.
Luke set up today’s events from the Acts of the Apostles with two dreams. First, the centurion Cornelius had a dream that God wanted him to meet Peter. Peter dreamed of a giant picnic blanket being lowered in front of him, loaded with every kind of food imaginable, kosher or non-kosher. He was told to enjoy all kinds. (Remember Tevye’s dream in “Fiddler on the Roof”?) Of course, Peter said, “What God has made clean, you shall not call profane” (Acts 10:15). They refused forbidden foods until they received God’s message. When the dream ended, a messenger arrived and invited Peter to Cornelius’ house. You might call this a “coincidence of providence.”
Is it a coincidence? Rather, it’s closer to providence. From the very beginning, “providence” has given Christian communities their own plan to grasp the Holy Spirit’s work in the world, what today’s Psalms call the saving power of God for all nations. I called on you to go beyond and understand. This emphasizes the humbling truth that the Spirit does not belong to any nation, language, sect, or religious tradition. God’s Spirit blows in every direction, leading us into the future for which God has created us. Our role is to marvel at and appreciate how God’s saving power extends “to the ends of the earth.”
Today’s anecdote from the Acts of the Apostles gives us a real-life story that embodies the teachings of 1 John and today’s excerpt from Jesus’ last sermon. According to the New American Bible, the First Epistle of John is not so much a letter as a commentary on the Gospel of John, defending Jesus as truly human and divine. What we heard today can be taken as a commentary on today’s gospel message about love.
We can interpret passages in the Gospels from different perspectives. We focus on the command to love, the idea that Jesus was willing to lay down his life for his friends, and the promise that he will grant us anything we ask in his name. can do. When we read this selection in conjunction with the first reading, we see a surprising connection to Jesus’ teaching that He chose us so that we might fully share in His joy. Masu.
This begins with an invitation to abide in the love of Jesus. The idea of staying may sound like a stopping point, but it’s actually the opposite. Living in Christ’s love calls us to live deeper and more passionately, allowing Christ’s love to animate everything we do.
Living in the love of Christ changes everything. Peter learned this from Cornelius. Remembering that Jesus often went beyond the letter of the Law to accomplish its purposes, Peter’s love allowed him to transcend the limitations of his religious tradition and embrace the depths of what faith in Christ evokes. I was drawn to Sahe and what drives him. The result was an unexpected joy of unity and, ultimately, the joy of freedom from legalities that limit the interactions that can occur between very diverse people who share the same aspirations.
Perhaps too often we have heard the call to love one another. But the love of Christ is what the readings of the Sixth Sunday of Easter call to us, and this call will probably make us uncomfortable. Peter felt uncomfortable eating non-kosher food and associating with Gentiles. When he saw the Holy Spirit working in them, his thinking changed.
Accepting Gentiles seems to pale in light of the divisions we know today. At least the Gentiles wanted to know Christ. But what about the people we believe are destroying our lives? Are they people who don’t recognize any real faith?
Here “abide in My love” becomes the key to our transformation. When Christ-like love feels impossible, perhaps the solution will be found in the first of the 12 Steps. It means admitting that we don’t have the power to love like Christ, believing that God’s grace can work miracles in us, and inviting Him. Do in us what we cannot do. Then we, who are born of God, can believe what Gabriel said to Mary: “With God nothing is impossible.” Our “new possibilities” include loving those we would rather despise.
Believe it or not, Christ promises to bring us fullness of joy.
