Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Today's Mass Readings

The readings today have both personal and communitarian implications. Whereas as the first reading and the events there in will prepare for the development of the Church, the gospel reading leads us to reflect on the personal lives of those who form the Christian community. In either case, the emphasis is on relationships. In the first reading, we see the first signs of division among the Christians. As should be obvious to us, there were different kinds of converts to Christianity. Some were former Jews whereas others came from other religions. The division originated because some Jews claimed that since Jesus was a Jew and followed all the Jewish rites, since Jesus came first to the Jews, and since Jesus was the fulfillment of the Jewish scriptures, that all non-Jewish converts to Christianity must first become Jews before they become Christians. The non-Jewish Christians, on the other hand, were perplexed at best. To complicate matters, the apostles themselves were confounded by the issue and did not hold one unifying position. Paul was an avid believer that it was not the past religious faith of the convert that mattered, but rather, their present faith in Christ that was of supreme importance. Other apostles had not yet taken a stand on the matter. Peter was a great example of this later position.

The important thing for us is how this issue is resolved. As we shall see later this week, the issue will be resolved at a council of the apostles. This first meeting of the apostles to resolve a matter that had to potential to divide the Church came to be known as the First Ecumenical Council of Jerusalem (Vatican II was the twenty-first ecumenical council). That is why the Catholic Church believes that God continues to guide the church through its leaders (Magisterium), who in prayer discern God’s will on doctrines that are not clearly defined and fully developed in the scriptures (example, was Jesus fully human or divine in his incarnation?).

The second dimension of today’s readings is the relationship of each individual member of the community to Christ. As Jesus says to his disciples today, “Remain in me, as I remain in you” (Jn 15:4). The gospel is encouraging us to root ourselves in Christ both individually and as a community. That is the key to being integrated disciples and a united Church.

During the entire day today, let us keep repeating Christ’s words as a reminder of Christ’s presence in us and in the Church: “Remain in me, as I remain in you. “

- Fr. Satish Joseph