Thursday of the Fourth Week of Easter

 Lectionary: 282

So Paul got up, motioned with his hand, and said,
“Fellow children of Israel and you others who are God-fearing, listen. The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and exalted the people during their sojourn in the land of Egypt. With uplifted arm he led them out, and for about forty years he put up with them in the desert...."

In today's first reading, Saint Paul recounts a familiar story of God's choice of the Hebrew people to the synagogue in Antioch. The Lord God brought his elect out of Egypt "with uplifted arm," into the desert, and thence to Canaan. 

We should notice also that Saint Paul addresses his "fellow children of Israel and you others who are God-fearing" in Antioch, which was in present day Turkey. It was an important intellectual center of the Roman empire with a large Jewish population, but it was not a Jewish city. Historians tell us that many of the intelligentsia of the empire admired the Jewish religion and some were converted to it. Pharisees, like Catholics today, were especially eager to welcome new members. Apparently there were many Jewish sympathizers among the gentiles in Antioch, and the courteous Apostle would not ignore their presence in the synagogue.

But things got out of hand when, the following Sabbath, the Jews were outnumbered. Word of Jesus had got about town and the gentiles wanted to hear more about his death and resurrection. Nor did Saint Paul attempt to restrain their enthusiasm. Because he fervently believed that salvation comes to everyone who believes in Christ, he saw no difference between them. Nor would he make a distinction as he taught both groups how to understand the Gospel in the light of Jewish history and religion.  

Catholics in the United States are used to the frequent movement of converts in and out of the Church. Many people enter the Church through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). Some of them have married into the Church and catch its Spirit; some are God-seekers and drawn by the liturgies, doctrines, and our principled, ethical witness. But many born Catholics find themselves quite at ease in Protestant churches; while others, losing interest in all religion, wander off to a secular wilderness. Still other Catholics, distressed by divorce, also abandon their religion. 

Clearly, no one should suppose "Once a Catholic, always a Catholic." If Judas could leave the Lord after having his feet washed and receiving the Eucharist, we should take no one for granted. The Catholic Church in America has recently suffered similar jolts. Even bishops headed for the exit in the wake of the Birth Control controversy. Belonging is a choice that we make daily. 

Almost sixty years after the Second Vatican Council, practicing Catholics realize the Church did not suffer a catastrophic change at that time. There was a moment of confusion and distress but the Spirit assured us that the Mass and the Sacraments are the same; and revised translations of the Bible are not revisions of the Bible. We are still the same holy, righteous, and sinful church.  

Saint Paul had essentially the same message when he spoke to Jews and gentiles in Antioch. The Gospel fit like a key in a lock into Jewish history and tradition. But Pharisaism, so far as Paul was concerned, did not belong. If some people were reassured by it they were the unfortunate victims of bad religion, like today's consumers of conspiracy theories. (Yes, Virginia, there is bad religion; there are many bad religions.) 

This passage records a painful moment in Church history as Christianity and Judaism parted ways. We pray for and anticipate a reconciliation as both religions, true to their beliefs, traditions, and the testimony of their martyrs converge to give Glory to God. But we do not expect that to happen in this life or this world.