May 25, 2025 at Saint William and Saint Peter Churches in Naples, FL
Acts 15: 12, 22-29 + Psalm 67 + Revelation 21: 10-14, 22-23 + John 14: 23-29
Last week I read an article suggesting that we are living through a crisis of serious thinking, and that opinion struck me as true when I think about public policy both locally and around the world. Our nation, and the whole western world for that matter is losing the ability to reason leaving me to wonder what happens when people lose the ability to make good judgements especially at a time when everyone thinks they are right and if you don’t agree with them, you’re wrong. At that point, there is nothing more to talk about. And so, we just fold our arms and stare at one another. That keeps going through my mind as I listen to the instructions Jesus gives us as he is about to leave us on our own.
This instruction we just heard speaks about the Holy Spirit whose job is to teach us. Well, anyone who has ever had anything to do with education can tell you that there is a certain disposition required on the part of the learner before any teaching can begin. In other words, you can’t teach a room full of people who believe that they know it all. And there’s the problem. This world, is in dire need of the Holy Spirit and a people who are ready to learn, listen, and be inspired.
When we listen to that first reading describing the polarization of that early Church we can learn something about how to resolve the polarization we live in today. Those Christian Jews and Christian Gentiles were staring at each other because they both believed they were right. Those Jewish Christians were certain that because Christ was born and died a Jew, everyone should be. Then Peter speaks up for the Gentiles and insists that there was no need for the Gentiles to become Jews in order to follow Jesus Christ. They only needed to live as people filled with the Spirit of Christ.
What they did can teach something very important. Luke tells us that after listening to one another in invoking the Holy Spirit, they boldly pronounced, “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and us not place undue burdens on the Gentiles.
That decision in the first century after Christ is one of the most important moments in the history of our Church. In fact, without it, this church would probably be nothing more than a small reformed version of Judaism. What it required was two things: listening to each other and listening to the Holy Spirit together. The consequence of that is diversity, which is a bad word for some around here these days. Yet, that diversity allows opinions and backgrounds to listen with a hunger to understand and discover what God may desire.
Humble open hearts never think they know it all or what they know is necessarily the whole truth. A humble and open heart is where the Holy Spirit can be found allowing us to comprehend various sides in every issue and discover new, creative, and compassionate ways for building up the human family. This Gospel invites us to examine honestly, carefully, and deeply how we are thinking and how our thinking is inspired by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.