Fr Kevin Kilgore

***

Acts: 11: 1-18

The Apostles and the brothers who were in Judea
heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God.
So when Peter went up to Jerusalem
the circumcised believers confronted him, saying,
‘You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.”
Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying,
“I was at prayer in the city of Joppa
when in a trance I had a vision,
something resembling a large sheet coming down,
lowered from the sky by its four corners, and it came to me.
Looking intently into it,
I observed and saw the four-legged animals of the earth,
the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky.
I also heard a voice say to me, ‘Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.’
But I said, ‘Certainly not, sir,
because nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
But a second time a voice from heaven answered,
‘What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.’
This happened three times,
and then everything was drawn up again into the sky.
Just then three men appeared at the house where we were,
who had been sent to me from Caesarea.
The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating.
These six brothers also went with me,
and we entered the man’s house.
He related to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, saying,
‘Send someone to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter,
who will speak words to you
by which you and all your household will be saved.’
As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them
as it had upon us at the beginning,
and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said,
‘John baptized with water
but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us
when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
who was I to be able to hinder God?”
When they heard this,
they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying,
“God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.”

The Word of the Lord.

***

***

After Christ’s ascension into heaven, the Apostles were charged with carrying on his mission of “making disciples.” However, Jesus didn’t answer every question that the Apostles would have about who is saved, or even how. 

As we see in our first reading, occasionally heated debates arose.

***

Peter has just returned to Jerusalem after going on mission. While preaching the Gospel, he “ate and drank” with Gentiles outside of the city, welcoming them into the Church. 

Some of the other disciples are not convinced that what Peter has done was right. Did Christians have to live like the Jews, following the laws and rituals of the Old Testament? Was baptism enough?

The answers to these questions seem easy to us today. We are saved, not by ancient laws and rituals, but by baptism. As Saint Paul writes, “We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead, we, too, might live.”

Throughout the centuries, the Church has debated a host of other issues relevant to that time and place. 

Today, for example, we are asking: 

What is the role of the laity in the Church? What does it mean to have a merciful Church? How do we evangelize fallen away Catholics? Who can receive Communion, and under what circumstances? Where is the line drawn between science and morality? Artificial intelligence?

The list goes on.

***

Ultimately, the Church discerns the answer to these questions in the same way that Peter and the others did – through prayer, debate, reliance upon the Holy Spirit, and ultimately unity amongst the body of Christ.

As we continue our journey together, we should pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit, so that the Church may continue to serve as God’s relevant and appointed voice in this world, guiding our own lives and decisions today.

***

***

Image credits: (1) Hymnal Library (2) Lifeway Research (3) Surviving Church

***

Gospel: John 10: 1-10

Jesus said:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate
but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.
But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice,
as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has driven out all his own,
he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him,
because they recognize his voice.
But they will not follow a stranger;
they will run away from him,
because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.”
Although Jesus used this figure of speech,
the Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell them.

So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
I am the gate for the sheep.
All who came before me are thieves and robbers,
but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the gate.
Whoever enters through me will be saved,
and will come in and go out and find pasture.
A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy;
I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

From a Christian perspective, one of the most sacred places on earth is the Holy Land, the place where Jesus once lived. That part of the world is a fascinating blend of ancient and modern forcibly woven into one.

One person might speed past you in a Mercedes while another rides on a donkey pulling a cart. I’ve been fortunate to travel there on pilgrimage several times. 

On one trip, while walking along the edge of the town of Bethlehem, I noticed a young boy shepherding his flock of sheep across a busy street.

Leading the charge – and literally bringing traffic to a halt – were the young ones moving so energetically it seemed like they were dancing. Behind them were the older sheep, covered in a thick coat of wool. 

At the very back was an old ewe with dusty brown fleece.  

She was lagging behind, moving with a terrible limp. Perhaps it was the result of arthritis or a broken leg that never fully healed. With every step, she jerked her neck back and forth, throwing her body forward, visibly terrified of being left behind.

***

Sheep are not the smartest animals, but they do have a natural herding mentality. They understand instinctively that they cannot survive on their own.

If that old ewe became separated from the flock, then she would’ve become frozen with fear, waiting either for her shepherd or for death, because she had no way of defending herself. Sheep have no claws, no paws, no venom, no fangs. 

Not even a mighty roar. Just a bland “baa.”

If attacked by a wolf, they literally run around – or in her case, limp around – in a large circle, hoping not to be caught and devoured. Cowardice at its best!    

*** 

Thankfully, the young shepherd noticed what was happening. Moving to the very back of the flock, he patiently guided that old ewe across the road.

Routine, perhaps.

But what struck me was the fact that all of those sheep were equal. If the young ones leading the charge didn’t pay attention to their shepherd, then they would have become the ones who were lost – and in danger of death.

Whether young or old, athletic or arthritic, a sheep’s strength never lies within itself. It is always derived from its closeness to the shepherd.

***

Given their lack of defenses, sheep might seem to be the most pitiable creatures in the animal kingdom. But they do have one redeeming quality, which we also need today – the ability to listen.

Sheep can distinguish the voice of their shepherd from any other voice or sound they hear.

To this day, some shepherds will corral their flocks in a large, shared pen overnight. When morning breaks, that cloud of fleece begins to break when each sheep hears the voice of its shepherd. Those who are called exit. The others don’t even budge.

This is why Jesus refers to himself as the Good Shepherd, and we are his sheep. “I know my sheep,” he says, “they hear my voice and follow me.”

This has always been what sets Christians apart – our ability to discern our shepherd’s voice, isolating it from the cacophony of other noises that we hear. In that sense, our truest defense is not something external, but internal.

***

This begs the question: how do we hear Christ’s voice?

***

It’s the gentle whisper that breaks the silence of prayer. It’s the nudge in our conscience, urging us to act. It’s the Word plainly spoken in the scriptures – and our willingness to respond.

God’s voice may come through the sage advice of a friend, through a word spoken in a sermon, or through the voice of religious leaders like Pope Leo, the successor of Saint Peter and Christ’s primary representative on earth.

On this World Day of Prayer for Vocations, we pray that all Christians would be given this grace to listen to their Shepherd’s voice – and to act on it. It’s a voice that speaks of peace, of unity, and of reconciliation.

It’s a voice that calls out to young people, leading them to a particular path in life – whether to the priesthood, to religious life, to consecrated life, to the single life, or to married life. 

“My sheep hear my voice,” Jesus says. “I know them and they follow me.”

***

That old ewe from Bethlehem, the one with the jerky neck, arthritic leg, and dusty brown fleece represents what every Christian is called to be – relentlessly attached to the voice of their shepherd.

Without him, we’d be lost. But with him, we are forever found.

***

***

Image credits: (1) Neighborhood Bible Church (2) Austockphoto (3) Psephizo

***

Gospel: John 6:52-59

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
“How can this man give us his Flesh to eat?”
Jesus said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my Flesh is true food,
and my Blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

In the Book of Genesis, how do Adam and Eve break their communion with God?

Through an act of eating.

As Satan the serpent slithers in the Garden of Eden, he convinces Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge, which she then shares with Adam. 

This act of disobedience breaks the command given by God to Adam: “You are free to eat from any of the trees in the garden, except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it, you shall die.”

Christians understand this to be the origin of sin – and by extension the evil that is still present in our world today. Once humanity’s relationship with God was severed, “all hell broke loose,” as it were.

***

In today’s Gospel, Jesus reveals how our relationship with God can be restored.

Just as Adam and Eve lost communion with God through a disobedient act of eating, so we are brought back into relationship with our Father through an obedient act of eating.

“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.”

Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge. 

In the Eucharist, we consume Christ’s own Body and Blood, the fruit of the Cross.

***

As incredible as this gift is, we must remember the words of Pope Francis: “The Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.”

While we receive Christ cautiously and with a heart full of gratitude, we also recognize the responsibility that it bears. As Saint Augustine once said, “Become what you consume.”

Be the hands, the face, the reconciling voice of Christ in the world through acts of prayer, charity, and self-sacrifice. 

What might that look like for us today?

***

***

Image credits: (1) Capella Sistina, Michelangelo (2) JW.org (3) Catholic Answers