Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Acts: 1:15, 17, 20-26

Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers and sisters
(there was a group of about one hundred and twenty persons
in the one place).
He said, “My brothers and sisters,
the Scripture had to be fulfilled
which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand
through the mouth of David, concerning Judas,
who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus.
Judas was numbered among us
and was allotted a share in this ministry.
For it is written in the Book of Psalms:
Let his encampment become desolate,
and may no one dwell in it.
and:
May another take his office.

Therefore, it is necessary that one of the men
who accompanied us the whole time
the Lord Jesus came and went among us,
beginning from the baptism of John
until the day on which he was taken up from us,
become with us a witness to his resurrection.”
So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas,
who was also known as Justus, and Matthias.
Then they prayed,
“You, Lord, who know the hearts of all,
show which one of these two you have chosen
to take the place in this apostolic ministry
from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.”
Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias,
and he was counted with the Eleven Apostles.

The Acts of the Apostles.

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Our first reading describes what might be the first complete gathering of the Christian community after the resurrection of Christ. The days of the Apostles hiding fearfully in Jerusalem are over.

The Risen Lord has appeared to them, breathed on them, bestowed on them his Holy Spirit, offered his divine peace, and sent them out on mission to, “make disciples of all nations.”

But the first order of business is to replace Judas Iscariot, whose betrayal and death left a gaping hole in the early Church’s leadership. So, the entire Christian community gathers – all 120 of them – in order to replace him.

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Here we find a clear distinction between the community of believers and the apostles. The “believers” are ordinary Christians, while the apostles are those who hold a unique share in Christ’s divine authority to preach, heal, and save. 

They must “go out.”

All of them, with the exception of John, will be martyred for their faith, often in distant corners of the known world.

Secondly, in the Book of Acts, we see the apostles appointing “elders” – or bishops – to stay and oversee the management of local churches, a practice that continues to this day.

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Two candidates are brought forth to replace Judas Iscariot as an apostle. One will be chosen. (It sounds a bit like the conclave!) 

Both Matthias and Joseph have their names written on stones, which are then thrown into a jar. The jar is shaken until one name falls out: Matthias.

Tradition tells us that Matthias preached the Gospel as far as Turkey, until, like his brothers, he was martyred.

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May he intercede for us that we, too, would speak up, finding creative ways to share our faith, even unto death.

Saint Matthias, apostle and martyr, pray for us.

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Image credits: (1) Every Nation Church New Jersey (2) Martin Young, Bible Cartoons (3) Facebook

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Acts: 11: 19-26

Those who had been scattered by the persecution
that arose because of Stephen
went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch,
preaching the word to no one but Jews.
There were some Cypriots and Cyrenians among them, however,
who came to Antioch and began to speak to the Greeks as well,
proclaiming the Lord Jesus. 
The hand of the Lord was with them
and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 
The news about them reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem,
and they sent Barnabas to go to Antioch.
When he arrived and saw the grace of God,
he rejoiced and encouraged them all
to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart,
for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith.
And a large number of people was added to the Lord. 
Then he went to Tarsus to look for Saul,
and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch. 
For a whole year they met with the Church
and taught a large number of people,
and it was in Antioch that the disciples
were first called Christians.

The Word of the Lord.

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Our first reading describes one of the most important events in human history. But without close attention, we’d miss it.

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The death of Saint Stephen, the first known Christian martyr, caused many Christians to flee Jerusalem. While they left almost everything behind, one thing they clung to was their faith.

As it’s written, “Some of them came to Antioch and spoke to the Greeks and told them the good news of the Lord Jesus.”

This is the moment when the Gospel is first shared with the Gentiles. 

Until now, all Christians were converts from Judaism. They either encountered the Risen Christ himself or came to understand Jesus as the fulfillment of the Jewish scriptures through the teaching of the Apostles.

All of a sudden, Christians started evangelizing the Greeks, who had not known the God of Israel. Leading them to Jesus demanded courage and creativity as they convinced many that Jesus was, in fact, LORD.

These early Christians – many poor and illiterate – started a movement that changed the world…and we don’t even know their names.

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Perhaps there’s a point in that for us.

Our ancestors remind us that spreading the Gospel is possible; that the Church in America can prosper; that non-believers can come to faith. 

Most of that work is done by ordinary people like us who bear witness to the Gospel through creativity, mercy, openness, dialogue, kindness, and personal witness. Qualities which our new pope, Leo XIV, also seems to embody.

For us – the arms, the hands, the voice, and the feet of Christ on earth – we pray: 

“Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth.”

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Image credits: (1) The Movements of Pentecost, Psephizo (2) Notre Dame Sites (3) Vessel4him

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Acts: 11: 1-18

The Apostles and the brothers who were in Judea
heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God. 
So when Peter went up to Jerusalem
the circumcised believers confronted him, saying,
‘You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.” 
Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying,
“I was at prayer in the city of Joppa
when in a trance I had a vision,
something resembling a large sheet coming down,
lowered from the sky by its four corners, and it came to me. 
Looking intently into it,
I observed and saw the four-legged animals of the earth,
the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky. 
I also heard a voice say to me, ‘Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.’ 
But I said, ‘Certainly not, sir,
because nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 
But a second time a voice from heaven answered,
‘What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.’ 
This happened three times,
and then everything was drawn up again into the sky.
Just then three men appeared at the house where we were,
who had been sent to me from Caesarea. 
The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating. 
These six brothers also went with me,
and we entered the man’s house. 
He related to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, saying,
‘Send someone to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter,
who will speak words to you 
by which you and all your household will be saved.’ 
As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them
as it had upon us at the beginning,
and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said,
‘John baptized with water
but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 
If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us
when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
who was I to be able to hinder God?”
When they heard this,
they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying,
“God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.”

The Word of the Lord.

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After Christ’s ascension into heaven, the Apostles were charged with carrying on his mission of “making disciples.” However, Jesus didn’t answer every question that the Apostles would have about who is saved, or even how. 

As we see in our first reading, occasionally heated debates arose.

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Peter has just returned to Jerusalem after going on mission. While preaching the Gospel, he “ate and drank” with Gentiles outside of the city, welcoming them into the Church. 

But some of the others are not convinced that what Peter had done was right. Did Christians have to follow the laws and rituals of the Old Testament? Was baptism enough?

The answers to these questions seem easy to us today. Yes, we are saved by baptism and love fulfills the law of Christ.

But throughout the centuries, the Church has debated a host of other issues relevant to that time and place. 

Today, for example, we are asking: 

What is the role of the laity in the Church? What does it mean to have a merciful Church? How do we evangelize fallen away Catholics? Who can receive Communion, and under what circumstances? Where is the line drawn between science and morality? 

And the list goes on.

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Ultimately, the Church discerns the answer to these questions in the same way that Peter and the others did – through prayer, reliance upon the Holy Spirit, and unity amongst the body of Christ.

As we continue our journey together, we should pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit, so that the Church may continue to serve as God’s relevant and appointed voice in the world, even in our own lives.

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Image credits: (1) IEEE-USA InSight (2) fairviewindy.org (3) Catholic World Report