Readings:
Acts 11:1-18
John 10:11-18
Reflection:
In today’s first reading (Acts 11:1-18) Peter is criticised by Jewish fellow-disciples for eating with uncircumcised Gentiles. Peter had been lodging with the household of Cornelius, a Roman centurion. He responds to his critics by telling of the vision he had in which the Lord had told him to kill and eat animals declared unclean in Jewish law; when he had refused, the Lord had told him ‘What God has made clean, you have no right to call profane.’ This experience, and his encounter with Cornelius’ household, had convinced him that Gentiles could be baptised and receive the Gospel. Later, in Acts 15, the leaders of the Church hold the ‘Council of Jerusalem’, making the crucial decision that Gentiles could be admitted to baptism without being circumcised: the Church could reach out to any and all of the various ethnic and religious groups that Christian missionaries will encounter.  Today’s responsorial Psalm speaks ardently of the search and thirst for God: the Council of Jerusalem enabled the Church to respond to this search, first within the Roman empire and later in all the various fields of Christian mission. In today’s Gospel of the Good Shepherd (John 10:11-18), Jesus affirms that ‘there are other sheep I have that are not of this fold, and these I have to lead as well.’ All three of today’s readings testify to our longing for the true God and God’s ardent desire to include us all in his grace and love.
Robert Gascoigne is a parishioner at St Brigid’s, Marrickville.  He is a theologian who taught for many years at the Australian Catholic University.Â