Some people seem to think that the Catholic Church is just another multi-national corporation, Catholicism, Inc., with the Pope as CEO. Obviously, this view is a bit skewed, but is not totally off-base. The Church is in fact an international organization. That’s actually one of the meanings of the word “Catholic”– this church is no small sect limited to a particular ethnic enclave. Rather, it is “universal,” intended to reach and include people from all nations.

That’s an important message of this Sunday’s first reading. Jesus mission was first and foremost to the children of Israel. But notice that he never restricted his ministry to Jews alone. In fact the person he pointed out as having more faith than just about anyone else he’d met was not a Jew, but a Roman, the centurion whose servant he healed.

As with the master, so with the disciple. Peter, the Vicar of Christ, meets another centurion who also exhibits faith and hunger for God. Not only was he a Gentile, but he was an officer in the occupying army of the hated Romans. He hadn’t even gone through RCIA and sacraments of initiation yet, and what does God do? Pour out the Holy Spirit upon him and his companions! How could these enemies be denied the sacrament of the Spirit when God had not hesitated to give them a generous measure of the Spirit? Someone once said that Catholicism meant “Here comes everybody!” In other words, the family is open to foreigners as well as countrymen, enemies as well as friends.

The Church is similar to a multi-national corporation in another respect. It has very serious business to attend to. Our second reading and the gospel sum up this business in a single word–love. If you put this central concept together with the message of the first reading, you get both the mission statement and a good DBA for the corporate entity of the Catholic Church–Love Unlimited. Human beings without saving grace are capable of some love, as pointed out by C.S. Lewis’s brilliant book, the Four Loves. But it is always a limited sort of love. It is limited in extension–we love our own country, our own family, our own spouse, our own friends. It is also usually limited in intensity–we often are willing to love as long as it doesn’t cost too much.

But the love which is the church’s business is charity. It is divine love that gives itself without limit to everyone without exception. It is a love impossible for human beings without the divine power of the Holy Spirit that was poured upon the 120 at Pentecost and upon Cornelius and company on that day in Caesarea. The first letter of John tells us that God’s offering up his only Son demonstrates the nature of this mind-boggling love. John also shows us how to identify those who truly have the life-blood of God cursing through their veins – simply check to see if the same sort of love is evident in their lives.

To love in this way is a privilege and an obligation for the Christian. But it is also a joy. In fact, true spiritual joy is what every human being longs for. But without the experience of receiving and giving this divine love, this joy can never be found.
Why were St. Francis of Assisi and Mother Teresa so full of joy when they had nothing?

Because they gave everything. Just like God did. To love without limit is what God does, and so living of life of love means intimate friendship with God.

When it is all said and done, that’s really what it’s all about. Doctrines, sacraments, canon law, customs, traditions and devotions–they are all designed to express and deepen this intimate union with God, this exciting adventure of love, that issues forth in more joy than we ever thought possible.

EXPLANATION: Today's text from the Acts of the Apostles describes the reception of the first Gentiles into the Christian Church. Cornelius, a Roman centurion stationed in Caesarea, had been an admirer of the God of the Jews. He gave alms generously and prayed much. God told him through an angel to send for Simon Peter who was in Jaffa. Peter, already prepared by a vision of clean and unclean animals (10: 8-16) in which he was taught that what God had made clean must not be called unclean, came to Caesarea. The vision given him in Jaffa became clear on seeing the religious faith of Cornelius. He had no hesitation in entering a pagan household, something strictly forbidden to a Jew. He preached Christ's life, death and resurrection to the assembled Gentiles and while he was preaching the Holy Spirit descended on them and they began to praise God in various languages, just as the Apostles and disciples had done on Pentecost day in Jerusalem. What greater proof was needed to convince Peter and his companions that God wanted the Gentiles, as well as the Jews, in his Church? Thus Cornelius and his household were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and became the first Gentiles to enter the Church.

Cornelius...feet: The Roman centurion wanted to honor Peter as a God, but Peter made him stand up telling him that he, Peter, was a mere man and should not be honored thus.

Peter said: Having learned from Cornelius about the vision of the angel and the command to send for Peter, the Apostle declares that be now under stands that all men, Gentiles as well as Jews, are acceptable to God, if they turn to him. His own vision in Jaffa had prepared him for this.

still...this: While Peter was explaining Christ and his teaching (10: 36-43), the Holy Spirit came upon all the Gentiles present.

believers...circumcised: The converted Jews "brothers from Jaffa" (10: 23) who had accompanied Peter "were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles," for they still had the idea that Christ was the Messiah of the Jews only. Although Peter had no hesitation in accepting Cornelius and his household into the Church, the Council of Jerusalem had to be called to correct this wrong Jewish idea (Acts 15: 1-29).

Can...baptizing: With the incontrovertible evidence that the Holy Spirit had descended on these Gentiles, Peter rightly declared that no man-made opinion could or should prevent them from full membership of the Church. They were then baptized with Christian baptism.

APPLICATION: "God shows no partiality but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him." These inspired and inspiring words of Peter, the head of the Apostles, removed any doubts which his fellow-Jewish-Christians from Jaffa had as to the right of Cornelius and his household to be baptized and become Christians like themselves. They should also have opened the minds of all Jewish converts to the mission of Christ as a mission of salvation for all nations and not for Jews only. Unfortunately, there were some who exaggerated their own claims on God and who still looked down on the Gentiles. There were among the Jewish-Christians those who grudgingly admitted that Gentiles could be received into the Christian Church, but only if they became Jews first by accepting circumcision.

These people were a serious embarrassment to St. Paul in his missionary activity among the Gentiles. They followed him through Asia Minor telling the converted Gentiles that they were not really members of the Christian Church for they had not first become Jews. These "Judaizers" as they were called, were causing such upsets among the Gentile converts that Paul and Barnabas were forced to ask the Apostles, assembled in the first Council of the Church in Jerusalem, to give a definitive answer to this question (Acts 15: 1-2). They did, and the false teaching of the Judaizers was condemned. Gentiles could and should be received directly into the Church, without passing through any form of Judaism or without accepting any of the Jewish ritualistic practices.

God, through the Holy Spirit, has been with his Church right down through the ages and from its very beginning. The case of conversion of Cornelius, narrated in today's reading, happened in order that Peter, the head of the Apostles and the principal speaker at the Council of Jerusalem, should have visible proof from God that he wished Gentiles to be taken directly into his Church without any of the Jewish ritual observances. Peter's address to the Council, describing what happened at Caesarea, silenced all opposition and settled this question for all time. But before the vision of the clean and unclean animals shown him in Jaffa, and the proofs of the presence of the Holy Spirit which he witnessed in Caesarea, Peter too had his narrow judaizing tendencies.

The lesson for all Christians is that God has been, and will be, always with his Church. Christ has committed it to the care of mortal and fallible men but he has given them (and us) the assurance that he will be with them always even unto the end of time (Mt. 28: 20). Today, many devout and sincere Christians are worried because of evident dissension between theologians on moral and dogmatic questions. Since the second Vatican Council there has been a flood of writings from the pens of reputable theologians and sometimes from men with less depth of knowledge and less balanced judgement. This is but a natural consequence of the winds of change to which the saintly Pope John opened the windows of the Church.

Ever since Trent (1546), when the cold-war with the Reformers began, the Catholic Church had remained rather static in its exposition of faith and morals. While the world around us had made giant strides in the study of man and the world in which he lived, and also in the study of ancient literature and culture, our seminary text-books were faithfully copying the sixteenth century expositions of the theologians of that day. This in itself was right as far as it went, since the defined dogmas of the Church remain fixed for all time. However, it did not go far enough; it paid little or no heed to the immense growth in secular knowledge, or to the change in terminology and linguistics which the new philosophies had introduced. Scripture especially which, with Tradition, is the basis of all theology, was very much neglected, to the detriment of our people's knowledge of the revealed world of God.

Thanks to the Holy Spirit, who worked through Pope John and Vatican II, that has all been changed, or rather is being gradually changed. As in all change, there must be upsets and a disturbance of the status quo ante. There will be naturally men who oppose change, and on the other hand there are likely to be men who want to change too much. We are going through this period of change at present, and some people are surprised, if not shocked, at some of the moral and dogmatic pronouncements of present-day writers. Knowing, as we do, that the Holy Spirit is with the Church we need have no fear. She has had similar experiences in the past––-nearly all her great General Councils were preceded by disputes between theologians and would-be theologizers. The Councils, guided by the Holy Spirit, defined and expounded the true faith.

Truth will prevail; we can look forward confidently to the day when present disputes will end. Our Christian faith and morals will continue to be expounded authoritatively with the backing of the Holy Spirit, by the successors of the Apostles whom he sent to teach all nations.

Christ the Lord  The moment is solemn. Jesus is at table with his intimate collaborators, his handpicked Twelve Apostles, and he knows that this is the last time they will be gathered in this way until they meet again in eternity. Nothing is carelessly said. Everyone on their deathbed has their final words, what they want to leave as their legacy. Jesus explains that he has loved us, and that he longs for us to remain in his love, to stay in his friendship, so that we may experience the indescribable joy that flows from true love. And then he lays down his one commandment, the new commandment, the summary of all his teaching and of his entire life: “Love one another as I love you.” The law of Christ, the law of Christ’s Kingdom, the only eternal law, is the law of love. Christ is Lord, because he commands with authority. But he is Lord of love, in love, and because of love, and his “command” is a heartfelt invitation to follow his example.

We can think of this part of his discourse as his battle plan – indeed, he is on the verge of heading into battle, his final battle against evil and all the forces of darkness. And with the consummating sacrifice of his life he will give birth to his Church militant, the body of believers who will take that same battle to the ends of the earth and the far corners of human history and culture. The plan is simple and straightforward. It is all summed up in his single, final, definitive command: love one another as I have loved you. To fight for the Lord and his Kingdom is to fight to fulfill that command.

Christ the Teacher Jesus, God himself, teaches us the nature of love. Love is self-giving: the greater the self-giving, the greater the love. “A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends.” When we put our lives at the service of others, when we live in order to give and not to take, when we are willing to suffer so that someone else can rejoice, then we may call ourselves his disciples.

Just to make sure we don’t misunderstand this lesson, he illustrated it by his own suffering and death. He accepted mockery, humiliation, torture, rejection, injustice, misunderstanding, betrayal, and finally death, not because he was too weak to resist, but to show us what love really is: self-giving, self-forgetting generosity. Jesus Christ hanging on the cross, bearing the weight of our sins and the punishment these sins have earned, thinking not of himself but of the souls he came to save, even pleading for their forgiveness up until the very end – this is love. Far from warm fuzzies and dreamy emotions, the love of Christ – and therefore the love of the Christian – is a love that gives without ever counting the cost, a love that gives without ever asking for something in return, a love that gives and gives and gives, just like God. And the more it gives, the more it has; the more it loves, the better it loves. We learn to love by loving. When we learn this lesson of true love and self-giving, we tap into the inexhaustible source of energy and enthusiasm that is God himself.

Christ the Friend  Mary: My child, Jesus has now told you the most important thing that is in his heart. He has looked into your eyes, he has chosen you, and he has revealed his soul to you. He has held nothing back. You know him. He has come to offer you his friendship. If you reciprocate, if you also bare your heart to him in prayer, heed his call to follow him, and fulfill his commands, then your life will bear “fruit that will last” and your “joy will be complete.” It is his promise, and he keeps his promises. Following Jesus Christ is a matter of the heart, a personal response to a personal invitation. And since the heart is the core of your being, anything that touches your heart touches every aspect of your life. Jesus wants to abide in your heart so that his friendship can color every nook and cranny of your life. Let him in again, today, right now.

Christ in My Life  Lord Jesus, you have wished to be my friend. I have so many friends. Friendship seems so simple, so natural. Do you really want to live like that with me? Don’t you want something more dramatic, more impressive, more historic? After all, you are the King of the universe. But no, you just want my friendship. And I want yours. It is all I want. Increase my faith, Lord, and teach me to walk always by your side…

You keep repeating the same lesson, Lord, that you want me to love as you have loved. Why do you keep insisting? Because I still haven’t learned it. It’s like when I was a kid and my coaches and teachers kept drilling the fundamentals. How many times I had to write out the alphabet! How many times I had to shoot a layup! The fundamentals of eternal life – help me get them right, so I can help others…

I am so grateful that you have made me your soldier. You didn’t need me; you could have conquered without me. But you chose to include me, to make me your ambassador, to give me a mission, a responsibility, a field of action. Now I can show you that I love you, that I am thankful for the innumerable gifts you have given me. I can show it by giving myself wholly to the mission you have entrusted to me…

How is the promise of intimacy with Jesus conditional (verse 14)?