We usually hear readings from the Old Testaments in our Sunday masses, but during the Easter season, we hear the story of the Early Church in our first readings from Acts of the Apostles. We hear about the missionary journeys of Paul, Barnabas, and their companions, of the miracles they performed in the proclamation of God’s kingdom, of the way they were criticized by the Pharisees and even thrown out of certain towns and targeted for death, of the way they encouraged the coverts to the Way of Jesus that they brought into the faith. Today, we hear about the Council of Jerusalem, the first council of the Early Church, addressing what it meant to be a disciple of Christ, addressing whether Gentiles needed to first obey the Jewish laws and customs prior to their conversion. Just as conflict and tension arose in the Early Church when they were confronted with a new problem or new reality, we see this mirrored in some of the realities we face in the Catholic Church in our current day as well. Indeed, being a disciple of Christ is never an easy task, no matter where and what time in history.
As you can see, I’m wearing a colorful stole today that was hand woven by the indigenous people of the rain forest where I served as a missionary in Ecuador. I wear this stole today, remembering that in this last week in May in 1996, I started my three year assignment as a Comboni lay missionary in Ecuador. Peter, Paul, Barnabas, and those early disciples went on an external, physical journey to the far regions of the ancient world to bring them the Good News of Christ. However, besides their physical journey, they also went on a spiritual journey. Being a missionary means stepping out into the unknown. When I arrived in Ecuador, I did not know how to speak Spanish. I had never been to Latin America before. Yet, I brought along a lot of hopes and dreams for my missionary work. After studying Spanish for several months in the capital city of Quito, high in the Andes mountains, I went to the village of Borbón in the jungle province of Esmeraldas, very close to the border of Columbia, an area where there was a lot drug trafficking and gang and cartel activity. Just as the communities that Paul visited had their own culture and traditions, where I served as a missionary had its own unique flavor and culture. It was populated with descendants of escaped slaves from nearby Columbia who found freedom and refuge in this isolated jungle in the 18th century. These escaped slaves and their descendants practiced their African tribal religions and traditions in virtual isolation from the rest of the country until after World War II, when the Comboni Missionaries were invited by the government of Ecuador to help integrate this area with the rest of the country. I worked with a team of priests, nuns, a brother, and another lay missionary. We were from different countries throughout the world – Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Uganda, Spain, and the US. We came together as missionaries, united by the Gospel, despite our different cultures and personalities.
All of you have been thrust into this correctional institution on your journey through life, with a lot diversity and differences present. I know it is a challenge for all of you to navigate those differences each day. You might think about how you could not find two people much different than Peter and Paul in the stories told in the Acts of the Apostles. They both had very different visions for the Church. These apostles in the Early Church had to respond to a rapidly changing reality. Through their patience and persistence, God spoke to the apostles in the midst of their challenging missionary work. Yes, the answers that God reveals to us can seem difficult to discern. We look at the discussions and arguments that came out of the Council of Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit led them in the Council of Jerusalem to a plan of action for their complex situation. Through their discussions and disagreements, they finally found where the Spirit was leading them. The same Spirit that Jesus sent to those first disciples is present to us in the world today as well. That Spirit helps us respond to the reality of the world. We are going to celebrate the Holy Spirit in a special way in the next couple of weeks in our celebration of the Ascension of the Lord and in our celebration of Pentecost.
As the Spirit was sent to the Early Church to lead them and guide them, the same Spirit is present to each one of you individually. The Spirit is present in your community as well. I look back sometimes and think if I would have chosen to go out as a missionary had I known the challenges and difficulties that awaited me. I would have to say “yes." Indeed, the Spirit speaks to us both as individuals and as a community. God called me to be a missionary, which included facing a lot of hardships as well. All of us need to be willing to be open to the Spirit, for the different ways the Lord can come into our lives. If we spend time with the Lord each day, if we open to his will and not only our own will and desires, then we will hear the voice of God and will be able to discern his will for us.
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