Commentary
Sunday, 5/26/2019, Sixth Sunday of Easter
The Decision of the First Council
First Reading Commentary: Acts 15:1-2, 22-29
The question came up, “Is circumcision necessary in order to comply with the Law of the Church.” The Gentiles who had been preached to by Paul and Barnabas did not believe in circumcision but they did believe in Christ and wanted to be a part of the Church. This resulted in the Church holding its first Council, the Council of Jerusalem. The decision of that Council became Church Law—Doctrine.
This is the Law that the Apostles and presbyters sent to the Gentiles in Antioch, “…to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meats of strangled animals and from unlawful marriage.” The Law was contained within a letter sent by Paul, Barnabas, Silas and Judas who was called Barsabbas and concluded, “If you keep free of these, you will be doing what is right. Farewell.”
We need to remember that the Church does not make one set of rules for one group of people and another set of rules for another group of people. Therefore, this became the Law and of the Doctrine of the Church for everyone, Jews and Gentiles alike. It has never changed which means that it is still the Law of the Church today.
The first part of this Law is in keeping with obeying the First Commandment—Thou shall honor thy God and put no false idol before Him. Therefore, we are to abstain from meat which has been sacrificed to idols.
The second part of the Law tells us to abstain from blood and from meats of strangled animals. In observing this law, we have to understand the intent of the law because it is impossible to follow this law to the letter. To do so would mean that we cannot eat meat at all and we know that God does not mean that. God told Noah to partake in all of the creatures of the earth.
God also told the Israelites how to eat the lamb at the Passover. This part of the law is consistent with that. It means that the blood of an animal shall be drained out of the animal, as much as possible before we eat it which means that the animal must be properly butchered.
The third part of this Law deals with morality and again, we must also understand the intent of the law because it deals with more than unlawful marriage. This law is all about the deadly sin of lust. Under this part of the law, premarital sex, coveting another person’s spouse and adultery are all sinful.
When the people in Antioch read the letter, they were delighted with exhortation. The people had several reasons to be so happy. Their faith was looked upon by the Church with favor and as a result, they were accepted into the Church. They could practice their faith, obey the commandments and proclaim themselves as Christians without compromising their identity.
When you look at the life of Jesus, you will notice that anytime He reached out to someone who was not a Jew, He did not ask them to, loose their identity. An example of this is Jesus and the woman at the well who was a Samaritan. The Samaritans and Jews did not get along and rarely spoke to each other. But that did not stop Jesus who told the woman to sin no more. He did not tell her to stop being who she was.
Being accepted by the Church without having to, loose their identity was a very important consideration for the Gentiles. To them, it confirmed that Jesus was for everyone and that the preaching of Paul and his disciples was not a bunch of hot air.
If you think about it, the decision of the Council is what Jesus would have said and that is why everyone is welcomed into the Church. There is no room for division, prejudice or racism in the Church—the Mystical Body.
Over and over again, we learn that if we do not have love, we do not have anything. That message is continued here in the sense that one must have love in their heart in order to be willing to accept everyone and that kind of love drove the decision of the Church’s first Council in Jerusalem.
The New Jerusalem is for Everyone
Second Reading Commentary: Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23
The total magnificence of the Kingdom of Heaven, which is the New Jerusalem, radiates like a precious stone. That is the way that John sees it and describes it because our human minds cannot possibly imagine just how glorious it really is. Imagine the most beautiful thing you could possibly feast your eyes on. The Kingdom is infinitely more spectacular than that.
But let’s consider the rest of John’s vision from today’s reading of Revelation of the New Jerusalem. It has four walls with three gates on each wall inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. This is because the New Jerusalem is the true, Promised Land.
There are walls facing every direction because those coming to the New Jerusalem will come from every place on earth. There are three gates on each wall because there are three persons in one God and we are entering His Kingdom. Take three gates on each wall, multiply it by four walls and we have twelve which is significant of the fact that those who enter the Kingdom will come from every nation.
There are twelve courses of stone for the twelve Apostles. Christ did not choose twelve Apostles by accident or on a whim. There were twelve Apostles because there were twelve tribes. I believe that they are the foundation because Christ built His Church on Peter the Rock and all of the Apostles did as Christ commanded taking the Church to all nations.
When you consider the walls together with the foundation with the names of the twelve tribes and the twelve Apostles, the New Jerusalem is for Jews and Gentiles. This means everyone! Once again, they will come from every nation.
Jesus told us that He would build a new temple. In Revelation, John saw that temple as being the Father and the Lamb. When we enter the Kingdom, we will be with God and since He is the temple, there is no need for a temple building. Jesus also told us that He is the Light therefore there is no need for any other light in the Kingdom.
Stop and think for a moment. Everything that John tells us in Revelation today was promised and foretold by the Father in the Old Testament or by Jesus in the New Testament. What John saw is the fulfillment of God’s promises and all we have to do to enjoy the benefits of those promises is to believe and follow God’s commandments. God never breaks a promise and Jesus promised us that if we follow Him, we will get to the Kingdom. Just remember that to follow Jesus is to love.
Jesus Makes Three Promises
Gospel Commentary: John: 14:23-29
It makes sense that in order to love Jesus, one must first believe in Him. But some people believe in Jesus without keeping His word. They know very well who Jesus is and they accept Jesus for who He is and yet, they do not obey His commandments.
Therefore, I will argue that loving Jesus is a choice. Think about that the next time you commit a sin which is doing something that you know is wrong. We are all guilty of committing sins which is why we all need the grace of forgiveness that comes with the Sacrament of Confession.
Jesus made three promises in today’s gospel. In the first promise, Jesus said, “Whoever loves me will keep my word and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” In Revelation 21:3, the One on the throne says, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race…God himself will always be with them (as their God).”
God actually dwells within us now. We may ask, “How does God make a dwelling place within us?” Why should we even ask that question? Nothing is beyond God. He comes to dwell within us by way of the Eucharist and the Spirit which brings us to the second promise.
Jesus said, “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” When the Holy Spirit comes to us, He bestows on us His gifts and virtues. They are designed to teach us and to remind us of the Son’s commandments. When we are being tempted by the evil one and we hear a little voice in the back of our heads telling us to ignore that temptation, it is the Holy Spirit who, lives in our conscience, talking to us. We should listen!
Jesus gives us peace but not the kind of peace or piece that we can receive from things of this world. Truth be told, nothing of this world can give us real peace. Whatever peace we think that we are receiving from something of this world is nothing more than a temporary illusion and we better make sure that we are not giving in to one of the deadly sins. The kind of peace that Jesus gives is that of complete joy and eternal happiness and that brings us to the third promise.
Jesus said, “I am going away and I will come back to you.” Jesus promised to come back and He did with His Resurrection. But that was not the only coming back that Jesus was talking about. In another gospel, John 14:1-3, Jesus told the disciples that He was going to prepare a place for them in His Father’s house. That place is the Kingdom of Heaven and the second coming will be on the last day.
Jesus went on to say, “If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I…I have told you this …so that when it happens you may believe.”
Let’s look at the last part of that statement. Why did Jesus say that? Was he questioning their faith? I do not believe that He was. Jesus was considering their humanity.
How many times, has something profound happened in your life and your first reaction was to say, “I don’t believe it.” Or after thinking about the event, you said, “I just can’t believe it.” Such reactions are very human and God the Son understood that very well having lived as a man.
We have all had such experiences and Jesus did not want the disciples to have that reaction to His Resurrection. Jesus wanted the disciples to focus their faith and attention to spreading the Good News of the Gospel.
Christians know that there are three persons in one God. So why did Jesus, the Son, say that the Father was greater than He? Once again, we must remember that Jesus was both one hundred percent divine and one hundred percent man. He was the Son and exercised absolute humility and obedience to the Father. When we show humility to the Son and obey Him, we do the same with the Father and we are listening to the Spirit because they are all one. And when we do that, we get to reap the benefits of Jesus’ promises which are the promises of all three persons because they are one God.
