Thursday of the 5th Week of Easter
Acts 15: 7-21; John 15: 9-11
Deacon Larry Brockman
Listen once more to these words from Acts: “And God, who knows the heart, bore witness by granting them the Holy Spirit just as he did us.”
You know, all of us here bear a special gift- our Catholic Faith. That gift guarantees us the fullest revelation of God’s message of His plan for mankind. So we are truly a chosen people. In that respect, we are no different from the Jews of Jesus time. They were the chosen people then by virtue of the writings and traditions of Moses and the prophets. Indeed, the Jews enjoyed the fullest revelation of God’s plan for man up until the time of Jesus.
But things changed, didn’t they. Because Jesus came and delivered a different message- the Good News of the Gospel. Some of the Jews listened to that new message and the Christian Church was born. But the Jews brought with them all the baggage of thousands of years of tradition and scripture and the law. Now I want to be sure to emphasize that the Mosaic Law in all its detail was a good thing. It was, after all, God’s word in as pure a form as mankind could express it at the time. So, the Jewish converts wanted everyone who believed in Jesus to carry that baggage as well because they had their sights on complying with the letter of the law revealed by God over time, just as they had always done.
Our readings today set the record straight. We would do well to listen to the essence of the message, because we find ourselves privileged as the chosen people bound by many Church laws and precepts. And the Church rightly teaches that a true believer embraces all that the Church teaches. But there is a little matter of priority and emphasis, isn’t there? In all the words of scripture and the Catechism, where is the core of the teaching? What is the most important thing in God’s eyes?
Jesus was quite critical of the Pharisees and Scribes precisely over this point. In truth, the same dilemma applies to all Religious peoples. For example: Moslems obey the Ramadan fast law, and zealously guard against anyone who would draw an image of the prophet Mohammed because that’s what their aggregate teaching says. Orthodox Jews believe in ritual washing of food; and dietary separation of dairy and meat for the same reason. Hindus believe that cows are sacred. I could go on and on. And I don’t want anyone to misunderstand me, I’m not meaning to be critical. I’m just trying to point out some details. There are many things each of these Religions teaches. But what is the most important thing in these and all religions?
For Christians, I think we heard it summarized in our two readings today. First, God looks into the heart. Yes, it is what is in our heart that matters. Do our hearts believe in God, I mean really believe in God? Do we believe in the story of Jesus as our savior? And do we accept that God’s will is the blueprint for our lives so we can follow in his destiny? Do we trust in Him no matter what happens?
Second, what kind of a God do we believe in? Is he a distant, judging, critical God? Or is he a God of love? Jesus tells us pretty clearly in the Gospel. He tells us that we should “Remain in my Love”. So it is the loving God that we need to believe in. And if we believe that God treats us with Love, then we have to believe that He treats everyone else with the same love, too.
And so, when a person believes in God in the heart; and embraces the love of God in his heart; then God will give them “His Holy Spirit” as it says in Acts. This doesn’t just happen for Catholics, but for all who believe in God in their hearts, and act out of love.
The Apostles were evangelizing the world, and had to make adjustments to embrace those they converted. We are called to evangelize, and to make adjustments as well. Love of our neighbor is the most important evangelization we can do, especially those who are filled with the same Spirit of God, whether they are Catholic or not.
