HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 5TH WEEK OF EASTER
HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 5TH WEEK OF EASTER Acts 15:7-21; Ps.96; John 15:9-11 What matters most is keeping the Commandments The Church in Jerusalem sat to consider the issue of circumcision of the gentiles. Now, the issue was: should the gentiles be circumcised before they can become members of the Christian community? Since for the Jews, circumcision was in line with their covenantal relationship with God, can someone become God’s without being circumcised? To resolve this issue, the apostles and elders simply paid attention to experience; that is, to what the Lord was saying to them all through their evangelization of the gentiles. Peter first narrated how the Lord commissioned him to preach to the gentiles. As he preached to them, the Lord gave them the Holy Spirit, the same way the Spirit was given to the Jewish believers. Peter noted: “God made no distinction between us and them”. Thereafter, Paul and Barnabas narrated the signs and wonders God had done among them through the ge...