In my home town, as in many small towns in the Adirondacks, there were cultural divisions. There were the Catholics, the Protestants, the Jews – the French, the Germans, the merchants and the mill workers; the lists go on. These divisions governed the customs and behavior of some people, although we were fiercely loyal to each other when hard times came. We had one real problem, however. It was hard for people to reach out to new arrivals in town. It didn’t matter that we were actually a diverse community of 4,000 souls– the questions were, “will the newcomers fit in, or will they try to change us? Will they respect who we are, and support what we have worked so hard to achieve?”
In today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter was facing a similar question, asking the gathering at the Roman centurion Cornelius’s home to look beyond the restrictions of their Jewish-Christian beliefs, and accept gentiles like Cornelius into their faith community. It wasn’t easy. Peter knew that for centuries his people had lived by laws that enabled them to stay united and faithful to God while in foreign lands or under foreign domination. And Peter was a man firm on tradition and culture. Accepting strangers into their faith community would be a risk. It took an outpouring of the Holy Spirit to overcome his fears and lead him to finally realize that God’s love does not have boundaries, and that Jesus came for all peoples – including the newcomers.
Newcomers come in many forms – they may be poor or rich, educated or uneducated; old or young; cradle Catholics or unchurched. Our house needs to be big enough for everyone, and we need not fear that we will lose our identity in the process. My town, over time, learned this lesson. When the last remaining industry in my home town closed, leaving 700 workers without jobs, all the churches took turns in providing free dinners each night, and held tent meetings in which the Catholic and Protestant congregations came together to share preaching, prayer, and music that brightened summer evenings. Christians welcomed strangers into their parish families – and into their hearts. Slowly, isolation and fear lessened and hope was restored. The message of Jesus came alive again…with the grace of God, as we reach out to others, we will do the same…
Dot Hathway, CSJA
