St James Catholic Church

In John’s account of the Last Supper, Jesus, knowing that his time here on earth was short, prepared the disciples for the future. He specifically promises to leave them with two gifts; his peace and the Holy Spirit. Two incomparable gifts which nearly two thousand years later we have been given as well.

Jesus tells his disciples that the Holy Spirit would remind them of all that he told them. But Jesus had not addressed every matter that would arise. Twenty years later, in the scene at the center of the first reading, the apostles need to decide what to do about uncircumcised Gentiles who want to be baptized as Christians. Some said, “Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved.” But Paul and Barnabas dissented. So they returned to Jerusalem to meet with the apostles and elders. There, guided by the Holy Spirit about this question Jesus never addressed, they decided a minimal number of Mosaic practices were necessary to follow and that circumcision was not one of them. Twenty centuries later, we hope to allow the Holy Spirit to guide the church and our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, to continue to address issues that involve the universal Church.

Love, Peace, Joy,

Fr. Bob