Homilette for April 4, 2008

Homilettes for weekdays between March 27 and April 4 follow below. May the fifty deays of Eastertime fill you with joy. Please write me if you have any comments regarding these homilettes. cm

Friday of the Second Week of Easter

(Acts 5:34-42)

It is safe to say that Pharisees are not gospel favorites. Many picked on Jesus because they could not recognize that his healing on the Sabbath marked the dawning of a new age. But the New Testament does recall some Pharisees who helped Christ. Nicodemus in the Gospel of John comes first by night to learn from him and then in daylight to bury him. In the reading form the Acts of the Apostles today the leading Pharisee Gamaliel defends the apostles in front of the Jewish Sanhedrin.

Of course, Gamaliel does not accept Christianity. He only states that as a matter of policy religious tolerance is more judicious than persecution. His reasoning is summarized in the memorable lines: “But if (Christianity) comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” Religious tolerance was mandated by Vatican II with a different logic. The Council taught that the human conscience is inviolable. No state or person has a right to interfere with how an individual worships God.

During Easter-time the Church asks us to recall the experience of the early Church. Every day at Mass this year we read from the Acts of the Apostles. We see how the Church starts as a small community in Jerusalem that spreads throughout the western world. She has little reason to fear other faith traditions. Rather, she has the commission to dialogue with them concerning the experience of reconciliation to God.

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