Paul and Barnabas had remarkable success in their first missionary journey to the Gentiles. But some of the converted Pharisees start urging that Gentile believers be circumcised and taught to follow Mosaic Law. The Jerusalem Council was convened in A.D 50 to settle these matters.
We read in Acts 15:1-2: “But some men.. from Judea were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved.’ Because there arose no little dissension and debate by Paul and Barnabas with them, it was decided that Paul, Barnabas, and some of the others should go up to Jerusalem to the Apostles and presbyters about this question.”
The Apostles and presbyters at the Council decided upon four common pagan practices for Gentile believers to abstain from: meat sacrificed to idols, blood, meats of strangled animals, and unlawful marriage.
Relaying the Decision
Paul and Barnabas, and Judas and Silas were then sent back to the Gentile brethren in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, to convey the Church’s decision. Needless to say, the Gentile believers, when relieved from the burden of circumcision and adhering to the Mosaic Law otherwise, were “delighted with the exhortation”.
Catholics today are no less polarised, torn, and conflicted on various matters relating to faith and modern life. To vaxx or not to vaxx? Communion in the hand okay? What about gender ideologies being taught in kindergarten? I often find myself agitated and disturbed by the choices families face today. Yet my faith demands the question: how do I avoid the pitfalls of spiritual pride and judgmentalism when relating to those who practice differently, and those who, having been born Christian, have never personally encountered the love of Jesus? In what ways am I being called upon to limit my liberty for the sake of love?
Love Others
I see St. Mother Teresa’s creased, smiling face on my dresser and I hear her whisper: “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” Loving service brings joy, and joy brings people to Christ.
Today, Jesus’s words to us from John 15 are: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends.”
Servant Heart
Jesus’ servant heart is perfectly captured by a small sculpture I recently picked up at a parish sale. Divine Servant: Jesus washing Peter’s feet. The sculpture based on John 13:3-17. It’s by artist Max Greiner Jr. It shows a lowly Jesus, his bare back bruised and striped, stooped over a perturbed Peter’s feet. A powerful reminder of St. Paul’s words in Philippians 2:5-7. “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.”
Prayer: O, most Holy Trinity, teach me to love first. Help me love selflessly, and generously, like You. If you could wash feet, so can I. Help me go into this day with a towel round my waist and Your joy in my heart.
