SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
1 MAY 2016
We
continue to hear the farewell speech of Jesus at the Last Supper. In today’s passage, Jesus promises to send
the Holy Spirit to his disciples after his death, resurrection, and ascension. This promised Holy Spirit is not given just
to the disciples at the Last Supper. The
Holy Spirit is given to all who open their hearts to the Paschal Mystery.
We hear
about this gift of the Holy Spirit in the reading from the Acts of the
Apostles. The first great controversy facing
the early Church was the issue of the Law of Moses. All of the first disciples of Jesus were
Jewish, who grew up learning and respecting the Law of Moses. For them, circumcision was a bodily reminder
of the Covenant God had cut with Abraham, their father in faith. For them, dietary laws defined who they were
as God’s people and set them apart as chosen and loved by God. However, Paul and Barnabas had experienced
great success in preaching the Paschal Mystery to the Gentiles, who knew
nothing of Abraham or Moses. Those who
had been raised in the Jewish tradition are now insisting that anyone baptized
into the Lord Jesus must also learn and follow the Law of Moses. Even though Paul had been raised in this
tradition, he argues strongly against this position, stating that grace had
freed them from the Law. Luke says that
“there arose no little dissension and debate.”
They are fighting like cats and dogs!
So, Paul
and Barnabas take this issue to the Apostles and elders in Jerusalem. Today’s passage skips the actual debate at
the Council of Jerusalem (you can read it for yourself in Acts 15:3-21). At the end of that debate, the Apostles and
elders announce “the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us” that the Gentiles
are not bound by the Law of Moses on most matters. However, they need to pay attention to other
parts of the Law and “abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from
meat of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage.” Guided by the Holy
Spirit, the earliest leaders of the Church resolved this issue.
Over the
next twenty centuries, the successors of the Apostles would convene Councils
many times to address difficult issues, pray for the guidance of the Holy
Spirit, and speak in the name of Jesus to his disciples of every age. In our own time, Pope Francis convened a
Synod of Bishops from around the world to discuss issues surrounding marriage
and the family. If you followed the
press coverage of the Synod, you know that there “there arose no little
dissension and debate.” Pope Francis
allowed all participants to speak their minds.
After listening to all sides, he issued his Apostolic Exhortation, The Joy of Love, in April. In that Exhortation, he reaffirmed Catholic
teaching that the bond of marriage is indissoluble. But he also encouraged a pastoral approach to
those who have not quite reached the ideals and need pastoral care.
As we hear
the words of Jesus at this Memorial of the Last Supper, we need to trust the
Holy Spirit working in our Church. If
you have not done so, read the Apostolic Exhortation. If you are divorced, separated, or in another
marriage and need an annulment, please do not hesitate to seek our help. The Holy Spirit continues to work through the
Church’s authentic teaching authority.
The Holy Spirit also works in his disciples’ lives. Our eighth graders are receiving the fullness
of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation this weekend. They need to work hard at forming their
consciences to follow the promptings of the Spirit in their lives. The same is true for all of us. With consciences form by Church teaching, we
listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, even when there will arise “no
little dissension and debate.” We may
not experience now the perfect peace of the New and Eternal Jerusalem. But we will get a glimpse of that perfect
peace when we listen carefully to the Holy Spirit. It is not a peace resulting from an end to
war or conflict, but a gift from Jesus Christ himself.
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