20220522 DISCERNMENT WITH THE HELP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
22 May, 2022, Sunday, 6th Week of Easter
First reading |
Acts 15:1-2,22-29 © |
It has been decided by the Spirit and by ourselves not to burden you with any burden beyond these essentials
Some men came down from Judaea and taught the brothers, ‘Unless you have yourselves circumcised in the tradition of Moses you cannot be saved.’ This led to disagreement, and after Paul and Barnabas had had a long argument with these men it was arranged that Paul and Barnabas and others of the church should go up to Jerusalem and discuss the problem with the apostles and elders.
Then the apostles and elders decided to choose delegates to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; the whole church concurred with this. They chose Judas known as Barsabbas and Silas, both leading men in the brotherhood, and gave them this letter to take with them:
‘The apostles and elders, your brothers, send greetings to the brothers of pagan birth in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. We hear that some of our members have disturbed you with their demands and have unsettled your minds. They acted without any authority from us; and so we have decided unanimously to elect delegates and to send them to you with Barnabas and Paul, men we highly respect who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accordingly we are sending you Judas and Silas, who will confirm by word of mouth what we have written in this letter. It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves not to saddle you with any burden beyond these essentials: you are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols; from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from fornication. Avoid these, and you will do what is right. Farewell.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 66(67):2-3,5-6,8 © |
Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
or
Alleluia!
O God, be gracious and bless us
and let your face shed its light upon us.
So will your ways be known upon earth
and all nations learn your saving help.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
or
Alleluia!
Let the nations be glad and exult
for you rule the world with justice.
With fairness you rule the peoples,
you guide the nations on earth.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
or
Alleluia!
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
May God still give us his blessing
till the ends of the earth revere him.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
or
Alleluia!
Second reading |
Apocalypse 21:10-14,22-23 © |
He showed me the holy city coming down out of heaven
In the spirit, the angel took me to the top of an enormous high mountain and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven. It had all the radiant glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond. The walls of it were of a great height, and had twelve gates; at each of the twelve gates there was an angel, and over the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; on the east there were three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones, each one of which bore the name of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
I saw that there was no temple in the city since the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb were themselves the temple, and the city did not need the sun or the moon for light, since it was lit by the radiant glory of God and the Lamb was a lighted torch for it.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn14:23 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus said: ‘If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him.’
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 14:23-29 © |
A peace the world cannot give is my gift to you
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him and make our home with him.
Those who do not love me do not keep my words.
And my word is not my own:
it is the word of the one who sent me.
I have said these things to you while still with you;
but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all I have said to you.
Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you,
a peace the world cannot give,
this is my gift to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
You heard me say: I am going away, and shall return.
If you loved me you would have been glad to know that I am going to the Father,
for the Father is greater than I.
I have told you this now before it happens,
so that when it does happen you may believe.’
DISCERNMENT WITH THE HELP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Acts 15:1-2,22-29; Ps 67; REV 21:10-14.22-23; John 14:23-29]
In the first reading, we read of the challenges facing the early Church because of the admission of Gentiles into the Christian Faith. Whilst it was a great blessing that the Gentiles had come to faith in Christ and accepted Him, the Jewish Christians who were the first transmitters of the gospel were not too sure how to bring them into their community. This was because they understood Christianity as a fulfilment of Judaism. The prophets had foretold that Gentiles would flow to Jerusalem and be incorporated into the one people of God (Is 2:2-3; 25:6-8; 56:6-7; 60:2-22; Zech 8:23). Consequently, were they required first to be proselytes to the Jewish Faith before they could become Christians? Could they be considered to be saved, to be the Chosen People of God without first becoming Jews? These tensions became obvious especially when it came to fellowship with the Gentiles, as Jewish laws did not allow them to share table with the Gentiles.
In our times, we also face great challenges like the early Christians because of the radical political, economic, technological, social, moral and cultural transformation. With globalization, information technology and digital media, things are becoming rather fluid because of relativism. Many of us cannot keep up with the changing trends and are no longer sure of what is the right thing to do because of so many diverse and apparently convincing arguments. Within our own churches, among Catholics, we disagree on moral issues such as divorce, abortion, contraceptives, LGBTQ, transgender, and doctrinal matters such as divorce and remarriage, receiving Holy Communion. These differences in opinion can be so great that some think that a schism might take place between the conservatives and the liberals. Even within our own family, we no longer have shared faith, shared values and shared dreams.
Doctrinal or moral disagreement surfaced at the very beginning of the early Church. “Some men came down from Judaea and taught the brothers, ‘Unless you have yourselves circumcised in the tradition of Moses you cannot be saved.’ This led to disagreement, and after Paul and Barnabas had had a long argument with these men.” This is not surprising considering the fact that our perception of life, of God, or morals is very much influenced by own personal experience, cultural upbringing, education and traditions we were brought up with. Indeed, the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians came from different cultural and religious backgrounds.
So how can we be true to the Word of God as the Lord asks of us? Jesus said, “If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him. Those who do not love me do not keep my words. And my word is not my own: it is the word of the one who sent me.” God wants to live in us on condition that we keep His Word. However, keeping the Word is not easy. Firstly, on the level of interpretation, even among Christians we cannot agree on how the scriptures are to be interpreted. There is always the broad and the narrow interpretation of scriptural texts. Some would read according to the context and some would take them quite literally. Secondly, on the level of practice, there are many challenges and oppositions from secularism. So even if we are agreeable as to what the Word of God requires of us, we might not have the courage to live out what we know to be right or even the capacity to do so. This is where discernment is needed. The Holy Spirit comes to help us to discern the truth.
This is where the Holy Spirit is needed as a counsellor. In the gospel, the Lord said, “I have said these things to you while still with you; but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.” The Holy Spirit does not teach new things because everything has been revealed by the Lord. Jesus is the Revealer and therefore after Him, there are no more revelations. Having said this, it does not mean that we have fully grasped His words or understood how to apply His Word to our daily life, especially when we meet new developments and situations not experienced by the early Christians. So the Holy Spirit is needed to guide the Church in the work of discernment, and especially to apply the scriptures in the face of changing contexts.
That was what the early Church did under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit. The first thing they did was to understand how the Holy Spirit was working in their midst. In other words, they situated themselves in a new context. They needed to know what was happening. When Paul and Barnabas “came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.” (Acts 15:3f) They gave an update of the developments that was taking place. It is important to hear what happened so that the scriptures can be understood in a new way. Theological reflection must always be a rapport between scriptures and the context. We must understand that changing situations require new responses.
Secondly, Peter gave a theological principle as a consequence of seeing how the Lord chose to grant Cornelius, a Gentile, the gift of the Holy Spirit even before he was baptized. He said, “God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” (Acts 15:6-11) Clearly, they must respect the sovereignty of God’s grace and also recognize that they themselves could not observe the laws of God perfectly. Gentiles need not be converted to Judaism because salvation is by faith in Christ through grace alone. Indeed, they themselves were unable to observe the law. God can work beyond our confines.
Thirdly, James cited from the scriptures to support Peter’s experience of the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the conversion of Cornelius through faith and grace. He confirmed that Peter’s assessment of the situation was in line with the teaching of the prophets. “I will rebuild it, and I will set it up, so that all other peoples may seek the Lord – even all the Gentiles over whom my name has been called.” (Acts 15:16-18 cf Amos 9:11f) Scripture, other than oral tradition, remains the basis for verification of truth because the Written Word of God is inspired. All doctrines must stand up to the scrutiny of scripture.
Fourthly, the truth must be communicated and applied in a charitable manner. The Holy Spirit filled the early Christians with charity for each other so that they could take each other’s feelings into consideration. James concurred with the findings and said, “It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves not to saddle you with any burden beyond these essentials: you are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from fornication.” Indirectly, they were saying that the Jewish Christians who sought to impose the Jewish laws was wrong. Nevertheless, to the Gentile Christians, out of Christian charity, they must be mindful when interacting with Jewish Christians because of their sensitivities to idolatry and taking blood. Going back to the scriptures and emphasizing what were the essentials to keep the community together was the outcome. The Holy Spirit was the source of unity because of the love that He had showered upon the Christians. Out of Christian charity, they were called to respect each other’s sensitivities and cultural values.
Finally, we know it is the right discernment when the Holy Spirit grants us peace and consolation. The Lord said, “Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you.” The peace that Jesus gives is the serenity that comes from our union with God, trusting in His plans for us. It is not a worldly kind of peace that is brought about when all hostilities end or when are enemies are destroyed. The peace that Jesus gives is not dependent on external circumstances but it is a peace that comes from within our hearts. It is the same peace of Jesus in the face of persecution, trusting in His Father and surrendering His life to Him.
So this peace that the Holy Spirit gives is our relationship with the Father and the Son. We will share in His troubles, in His cross but we will also share in His peace. Fear is always the result of a lack of faith in God and acceptance of His plans for us. Fear is the consequence of focusing on ourselves and circumstances rather than on God. St John wrote, “perfect love casts out fear.” (1 Jn 4:18) This love is a sharing of the relationship between the Father and the Son made possible by the Spirit dwelling within us. If we focus on God as Jesus did, then we will truly share His joy. The Holy Spirit not only counsels us but gives us the courage to accept the trials of life by uniting us in love with the Father and the Son.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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