Daily Retreat 05/13/09
2009 May 13 Wed:Easter Weekday/ Our Lady of Fatima
Acts 15:1-6/ Ps 121(122):1-2. 3-4ab. 4cd-5/ Jn 15:1-8
From today’s readings: “They were sent on their journey by the Church, and passed through Phoenicia and Samaria telling of the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brethren.... Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.... I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine grower.”
The Council of Jerusalem
Around the year 50 A.D., the leaders of the early Church assembled together in Jerusalem to resolve a burning question: whether or not pagan converts to Christianity had to embrace circumcision and the other practices of Judaism. Clearly, the first Christians were Jews who saw in Jesus the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies, but gradually, pagans also were attracted to the following of Christ, and so the debate arose: is Christianity merely a sect of Judaism, or does it supercede the old law?
It’s hard to imagine how entrenched the pro-Jewish position was: the Apostles and the great majority of all the disciples had grown up in the Jewish faith, everyone knew that Jesus Himself had been a faithful Jew, all Scripture was Jewish (since not a word of the New Testament had yet been written), liturgical worship was thoroughly Jewish (except for a few distinctively Christian adaptations in celebrating the Breaking of the Bread), and the Temple still proudly stood as the undisputed center of worship in Jerusalem.
Despite all this, the Church’s decision, guided by the Holy Spirit, was to affirm Christ as the source of salvation (cf. 15:11), thereby recognizing the legitimacy of the faith of those who had converted to Christianity directly from paganism. In this first plenary Council of the early Church, we see that, rather than splitting apart into two irreconcilable sects, the believers were ultimately united (some grudgingly, others enthusiastically) under the inspired leadership of Peter and the other Apostles in facing a moment of crisis. This is the same pattern that emerges from all of the other 21 general Church councils, down to the Second Vatican Council.
Acts 15:1-6/ Ps 121(122):1-2. 3-4ab. 4cd-5/ Jn 15:1-8
From today’s readings: “They were sent on their journey by the Church, and passed through Phoenicia and Samaria telling of the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brethren.... Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.... I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine grower.”
The Council of Jerusalem
Around the year 50 A.D., the leaders of the early Church assembled together in Jerusalem to resolve a burning question: whether or not pagan converts to Christianity had to embrace circumcision and the other practices of Judaism. Clearly, the first Christians were Jews who saw in Jesus the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies, but gradually, pagans also were attracted to the following of Christ, and so the debate arose: is Christianity merely a sect of Judaism, or does it supercede the old law?
It’s hard to imagine how entrenched the pro-Jewish position was: the Apostles and the great majority of all the disciples had grown up in the Jewish faith, everyone knew that Jesus Himself had been a faithful Jew, all Scripture was Jewish (since not a word of the New Testament had yet been written), liturgical worship was thoroughly Jewish (except for a few distinctively Christian adaptations in celebrating the Breaking of the Bread), and the Temple still proudly stood as the undisputed center of worship in Jerusalem.
Despite all this, the Church’s decision, guided by the Holy Spirit, was to affirm Christ as the source of salvation (cf. 15:11), thereby recognizing the legitimacy of the faith of those who had converted to Christianity directly from paganism. In this first plenary Council of the early Church, we see that, rather than splitting apart into two irreconcilable sects, the believers were ultimately united (some grudgingly, others enthusiastically) under the inspired leadership of Peter and the other Apostles in facing a moment of crisis. This is the same pattern that emerges from all of the other 21 general Church councils, down to the Second Vatican Council.
posted by FrPitstick | 5/10/2009
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