Lectionary: 279
Reading 1
Acts 11:1-18
The Apostles and the brothers who were in Judea
heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God.
So when Peter went up to Jerusalem
the circumcised believers confronted him, saying,
‘You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.”
Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying,
“I was at prayer in the city of Joppa
when in a trance I had a vision,
something resembling a large sheet coming down,
lowered from the sky by its four corners, and it came to me.
Looking intently into it,
I observed and saw the four-legged animals of the earth,
the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky.
I also heard a voice say to me, ‘Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.’
But I said, ‘Certainly not, sir,
because nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
But a second time a voice from heaven answered,
‘What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.’
This happened three times,
and then everything was drawn up again into the sky.
Just then three men appeared at the house where we were,
who had been sent to me from Caesarea.
The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating.
These six brothers also went with me,
and we entered the man’s house.
He related to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, saying,
‘Send someone to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter,
who will speak words to you
by which you and all your household will be saved.’
As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them
as it had upon us at the beginning,
and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said,
‘John baptized with water
but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us
when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
who was I to be able to hinder God?”
When they heard this,
they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying,
“God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.”
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 42:2-3; 43:3, 4
R. (see 3a) Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
As the hind longs for the running waters,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
Athirst is my soul for God, the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Send forth your light and your fidelity;
they shall lead me on
And bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling-place.
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Then will I go in to the altar of God,
the God of my gladness and joy;
Then will I give you thanks upon the harp,
O God, my God!
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Gospel
John 10:11-18
Jesus said:
“I am the good shepherd.
A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd
and whose sheep are not his own,
sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
and the wolf catches and scatters them.
This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd,
and I know mine and mine know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;
and I will lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice,
and there will be one flock, one shepherd.
This is why the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.
I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.
This command I have received from my Father.”
REFLECTION
SOURCE: One Bread One Body
THEME: CLUED IN TO THE SPIRIT
"As I began to address them the Holy Spirit came upon them." –Acts 11:15
Peter, a Christian and a Jew, took the unprecedented step of entering the house of a Gentile, Cornelius (Acts 10:25). Gentiles, that is, non-Jews, were excluded from the company of Jews. However, the Holy Spirit made it crystal-clear to Peter that he was to enter Cornelius' house (Acts 11:5ff; 11:12).
The Spirit hadn't yet instructed Peter what to say to the assembled Gentiles. So Peter "proceeded to address them" with a standard witness to the risen Lord (Acts 10:34ff). Then Peter brought up the subject of sin (Acts 10:43). Based on his previous preaching in Acts, it's quite possible that Peter's next words would have involved accountability for sin and the need for deep repentance. Theologically this makes good sense, but the Holy Spirit had a different subject in mind, for the Spirit took over from Peter. "Peter had not finished these words" about forgiveness of sins "when the Holy Spirit descended upon all who were listening to Peter's message" (Acts 10:44). Although Peter's Jewish Christian companions were surprised at this turn of events (Acts 10:45), Peter followed "the Spirit's lead" perfectly (Gal 5:25). Rather than trying to take the floor back from the Holy Spirit and finish his sermon, Peter "gave orders that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ" (Acts 10:48).
Let us hear the voice of Jesus (Jn 10:16) and thereby learn the voice of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit knows exactly what is the right word at the right time (see e.g. 1 Cor 2:10ff). Like Peter, let us "live by the Spirit" and "follow the Spirit's lead" (Gal 5:25).
PRAYER: Father, I will serve You not by my own intelligence or wisdom, but by Your Spirit (Zec 4:6).
PROMISE: "I know My sheep and My sheep know Me." –Jn 10:14
PRAISE: St. Pancras had the fire of Christ at an early age and suffered martyrdom at age fourteen.
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