WHAT IS TRUTH? (Trinity Sunday_Cycle C)_30 July 2014

Homily for the Trinity Sunday (Cycle B)

Based on Jn 16:12-15 (Gospel), Prv 8:22-31 (First Reading) and Rm 1:1-5 (Second Reading)

From the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”

WHAT IS TRUTH?

“But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth”(Jn 16:13)

Gospel: Jn 16:12-15. I still have many  things to say to you, but they would be to much for you now. But when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself but will say what he hears, and will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come.^e Footnote  ^esays “The new order of that things that is to result from Christ’s death and resurrection”.

Parallel text for verse 13 is Jn 14:26 that says: But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.^r Footnote ^r – In place of the departed Christ, the faithful will have the Spirit, 14:16, 17; 16:7, cf. 1:33+. He is the ‘parakletos’  who intercedes with the Father, cf. 1 Jn. 2:1, and whose voice is heard in human courts, 15:26,27, cf. LK. 12:11p., Mt. 10:19-20p. Ac. 5:32. He is the Spirit of truth, leading men to the very fullness of truth, 16:33, teaching them to understand the mystery of Christ – fulfillment of the scriptures, 5:39+, the meaning of his words, 2:19+, of his actions, and his ‘signs’, 14:26, 16:13, 1 Jn. 2:20f,27, all hitherto obscure to the disciples, 2:22, 12:16, 13:7, 20:9. In this way the Spirit is to bear witness to Christ, 15:26, 1 Jn. 5:6,7, and shame the unbelieving world, 16:8-11.

Verses 14 and 15 say:  He will glorify me, since all he tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: All he tell you will be taken from what is mine.^f Footnote ^f says “By revealing the hidden depth of the mystery of Jesus, the Spirit makes his glory known. Jesus, in his turn, manifests the glory of the Father, 17:4, from whom comes everything he possesses, 3:35; 5:22,26; 13:3; 17:2. The Father is the source of the revelation communicated by the Son and brought to completion by the Spirit who in his way glorifies both Son and Father. There are not three revelations but one.”

The First Reading is taken from Prv 8:22-31. This is about Wisdom as Creator^g. Footnote ^g says “The concept of a personified wisdom, a mere literary device in Pr 14:1, was further developed in the post-exilic period, when polytheism was no longer a threat to true religion. In Jb 28 and Ba 3:9-4:4 wisdom is represented as a thing distinct from God and man, desirable in itself: in Pr 1:20-23; 3:16-19 and 8-9 it is represented as a person. Here Wisdom herself reveals her origin (created before all other creatures, vv. 22-26), the active part she plays in the creation, vv. 27-30, and the function she discharges among men in leading them to God, vv. 32,35-36. This doctrine will be further developed in Si: Si 1:1-10 recalls Job 28, but Si 4:11-19; 14:20-15:10 and especially 24:1-29 (cf Si 24:1+) are in line with Pr 8. Wisdom is personified in all these texts but, as in the case of the Word and the Spirit, it is hard to discern how much is poetic device, how much the expression of older forms of religious thought, how much the appreciation of newly revealed truths. Finally, Ws 7:22-8:1 gives the impression that wisdom an ‘outpouring of God’s glory’, has a share in the divine nature, although the abstract terms used may equally well apply to a divine attribute as to a distinct personality. The doctrine of wisdom, thus outlined in the OT will be resumed in the NT which will give it new and decisive completion by applying it to the person of Christ. Jesus is referred to as Wisdom itself, the Wisdom of God, Mt 11:19p; Lk 11:49, cf. Mt 23:34-36; 1 Co 1:24-30; like Wisdom, he participates in the creation and preservation of the world, Col 1:16-17, and the protection of Israel, 1 Co 10:4, cf Ws 10:17f. Finally, St. John in his prologue attributes the characteristics of creative Wisdom to the Word, and his gospel throughout represents Christ as the Wisdom of God, cf. Jn 6:35+. Hence, Christian tradition from St Justin onwards sees in the Wisdom of the OT the person of Christ himself. By ‘accommodation’ the liturgy applies Pr 8:22f to the Virgin, collaborating with the  Redeemer as Wisdom collaborates with the Creator.”

Verses 22 says: The Lord created me^h,  when his purpose first unfolded, before the oldest of his works. Footnote ^h says “Thus the Greek, Syr., Targ., cf. Si 1:4,9; 24:8,9, translate the Hebrew verb (qanani). The translation ‘acquired me’ or ‘possessed me’ (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion) was adopted by St. Jerome (Vulg.), doubtless with an eye to the heretic Arius who maintained that the Word (=Wisdom) was a created thing”.

Parallel texts are:

1.       Pr 3:19 - By wisdom, Yahweh set the earth on its foundation, he fixed the heavens firm by discernment.

2.       Pr 14:1 - Wisdom^a builds herself a house, with her own hands. Folly pulls it down.

Footnote

3.       Pr 14:1 - In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth

4.       Si 1:4,9  - Before all other things wisdom was created; and shrewd understanding, is everlasting^d (v. 4), the Lord. He himself has created her^g, looked on her and assessed her, and poured her out on all his works (v. 9). Footnote ^d says “Add, v. 5 ‘Wisdom’s source is the word of God in the heavens; her ways are the eternal laws’”.

5.       Si 24:8-9 - Then the Creator of all things instructed  me, and he who created me, fixed a place for my tent. He said, ‘Pitch your tent in Jacob, make Israel your inheritance (v. 8).’From eternity, in the beginning, he created me, and for eternity I shall remain(v. 9).

6.       Is 40:13 - Who could have advised the spirit of Yahweh, what counselor could have  instructed him?

Verse 23 says: From everlasting I was firmly set, from the beginning, at the first, before the earth came into being.

Parallel text is from Jn 1:1 that says:  In the beginning was the Word,^a the Word was with God and the Word was God. Footnote ^a says “The O.T. speaks of the Word of God, and of his wisdom, present with God before the world was made, cf. Pr. 8:22+; Ws. 7:22+, by it all things were created, it is sent to earth to reveal the hidden designs of God; it returns to him with its work done, Is. 58:10-11, Pr. 8:22-36, Si. 24:3-22, Ws. 9:9-12.  On its creature role, cf. also Gn. 1:3,6 etc.: Is 40:8,26, 44:24-28; 48:13, Ps. 33:6, Jdt. 16:14, Si.42:15; on its mission, cf. Ws. 18:14-16, Ps.107:20; 147:15-18.  For John, too, 13:3, 16:28, the Word existed before the world in God, 1:1-2, 8:24+, 10:30+. It has come on earth, 1:9-14, 3:19, 12:46, cf. Mk 1:38+, being sent by the Father; 3:17,34,5:36, 43, 6:29, 7:29, 8:42, 9:7, 10:36, 11:42, 17:3,25,cf. Lk 4:43, to perform a task, 4:34+, namely, to deliver 3:11+, 8:21, 12:35, 13:3, 16:5, 17:11, 13, 20:17.  The incarnation enabled the N.T. and especially John, to see this separately and eternally existent Word-Wisdom as a person.

Verse 24, 25 and 26 say: The deep was not, when I was born forth, there were no springs to gush with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I came to birth; before he made the earth, the countryside, or before the first grains of the world’s dust.

Parallel text for verse 25 is Jb 15:7 that says: Are you the first born of the human race? brought into the world before the hills?^b Footnote ^b – The first question contrasts with the first member of the human race, a being who might have been able to claim great wisdom. The second goes so far as to contrast him with Wisdom herself, brought forth before the hills were made, Pr 8:25, and ever afterwards a member of God’s council, Pr 8:22-31; cf. Jb 28:23-27; Ws 8:3-4.

Verse 27 says:  When he fixed the heavens firm, there I was, when he drew a ring on the surface of the deep.

Parallel texts are:

1.       Jb 28:23-27 - God alone had traced its path; and found out where it lives (v.23). For he sees to the ends of the earth, and observes all that lies under the heavens (v.24). When he willed to give weight to the wind, and measured out the waters with a gauge (v. 25); When he made a laws and rules for the rain and mapped a route for thunder claps to follow (v. 26). Then he had it in sight, and cast it worth, assessed it, fathomed it^j (v. 27).  Footnote ^j –says “‘reckoned its worth’ corr. ‘assessed’ five Hebr.”

2.       Ps 136:5 - His wisdom made the heavens, for his love is everlasting.

3.       Ws 8:4 - Yes, she is an initiate in the mysteries of God’s knowledge, and making choice of the works he is to do.

4.       Ws 9:4 - Grant me Wisdom, consort of your throne, and do not reject me from the number of your children.

5.       Si 24:5 - Alone, I encircled the vault of the sky, and walked on the bottom of the deeps.^d Footnote ^d says “Wisdom was present at every act of the creation.”

6.       Jr 10:4 - Then embellished with silver and gold, they fixed them with nail and hammer to prevent them from falling.

Verse 28 says: When he thickened the clouds above when he fixed fast the springs of the deep.

Parallel text is  Ws 9:9 that says: With you is Wisdom, she who knows your works, she who was present when you made the world; she understands what is pleasing in your eyesand what agrees with your commandments.

Verse 29 and 30 say: When he assigned the sea its boundaries - and the waters  will not invade the shore – when he laid down the foundations of the earth. I was by his side, a master craftsman, delighting him day after day, ever at play in his presence.

Parallel texts for verse 29 are:

1.       Jb 38:8-11 - Who pent up the sea behind closed doors, when it leapt tumultuous out of the womb (v. 8).When I wrapped it in a robe of mist and made black clouds its swaddling bands? (v. 9) When I marked the bounds  it was not to cross and made it fast with a bolted gate (v. 10)?Come thus far I said, and no farther, here your proud waves shall break?^d (v. 11) Footnote ^dsays “‘shall break’ Greek. Vulg.” Footnote ^d says “‘shall break’ Greek. Vulg”.

2.       Ps 104:7-9 - At your reproof the waters took flight; they fled at the sound of your thunder (v. 7), cascading over the mountains, into the valleys, down to the reservoir you made for them (v. 8) You imposed the limits they must never cross again, or they would once more flood the land (v. 9).

Verse 30 and 31 say: I was by his side, a master craftsman, delighting him day after day, ever at play in his presence, at play everywhere in the world, delighting to be with the sons of men.

Parallel texts are:

1.       Ws 1:8 - The man who gives voice to injustice will never go unnoticed, nor shall avenging justice pass him by.

2.       Ba 3:38…so causing her to appear on earth, and more among men.

The Second Reading is from  Rm 1:1-5 .

 Verses 1, 2 and 3  says: From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus who has been called to be an apostle,^b and especially chosen to preach the Good News that God promised long ago though his prophets in the scriptures, the news is about the Son of God who, according to the human nature he took, was a descendant of David. Footnote ^b says “A Jewish title that means ‘envoy’, cf. Jn. 13:16; 2 Co. 8:23; Ph. 2:25, sometimes used in the NT for the Twelve chosen by Christ, Mt. 10:2; Ac. 1:26; 2:37, etc.: 1 Co. 15:7; Rv. 21:14; to be his witnesses, Ac. 1:8+, sometimes in the wider sense for those sent to preach the gospel, Rm. 16:7; 1 Co. 12:28; Ep. 2:20; 3:5; 4:11. Though Paul was not a member of the Twelve, the fact that he had been appointed as missionary to the  gentiles by God, Ac. 26:17; Rm. 11:13; 1 Co. 9:2; Ga. 2:8; 1 Tim. 2:7, constitutes him as apostle of Christ, Rm. 1:1; 1 Co. 1:1, etc., equal to the Twelve, Ac. 10:41, because like them he had seen the risen Christ, 1 Co. 9:1, and been sent by him, Rm. 1:5; Ga. 1:16, to be his witness, Ac. 26:16. In spite of being ‘the least of the apostles’, 1 Co. 15:9, he is their equal, 1 Co. 9:5; Ga 2:6-9, because he did not learn the Good News he preaches from them, Ga. 1:1,17,19”.

Parallel texts for verse 2 are:  

1.       Ac 26:16-18 - But get up now, and stand on your feet for I have appeared to you for this reason: to appoint you as my servant and as witness of this vision in which you  have seen me and of others in which I shall appear to you (v. 16). I shall deliver you from the people and from the pagans to whom I am sending you (v. 17), to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light,^f from the dominion of Satan to God, and receive, through faith in me, forgiveness of their sins^g and a share in the inheritance of the sanctified (v. 18).  Footnote ^f says “Paul’s missionary vocation is described here in OT terms used about two great prophetic figures, Jeremiah and the Servant of Yahweh”; and Footnote ^g says “In 9:17-18, Paul, his sight restored, passes from darkness to light; in 22:16 (cf 9:18) Paul is ordered to wash away his sins by baptism. Thus his own experience is a symbol of his mission to others”.

2.       Ga 1:10,15 - So now whom am I trying to please-men or God? Would you say it is men’s approval that I am looking for^e? If I still wanted that^f, I should not be what I am - a servant of Christ (v. 10).Then God, who had especially chosen me while I was still in my mother’s womb, called me through his grace and chose (v. 15). Footnote ^e says  “It appears that the Judaisers accused Paul of trying to make the pagans’ conversion easier by not insisting on circumcision. But on this occasion at least, he retorts, he cannot be suspected of a conciliatory attitude”; Footnote ^f says “As once he did, i.e. before his conversion when he preached circumcision”.

3.       Ph 1:1 - From Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus, together with the presiding elders and deacons^a. Footnote  ^a says “The word ‘episcopos’ (‘overseer’, ‘supervisor’ or ‘shepherd’) has not yet acquired the same meaning as ‘bishop’, cf. Tt 1:5f. The ‘deacons’ as their assistants, Ac 6:1-6”

4.       Col 1:1 - From Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.

Verse 4 says:  It is about Jesus Christ our Lord who is the order of the spirit, the spirit of holiness that is in him, was proclaimed^c Son of God in all his power through his resurrection from the dead.^d Footnote ^c says “Vulg. ‘predestined’”;  Footnote ^d says “For Paul Christ rose only because God raised him, 1 Th. 1:10; 1 Co. 6:14; 15:15; 2 Co. 4:14; Ga. 1:1; Rm. 4:24; 10:9; Ac. 2:24+; cf. 1 P. 1:21, thus displaying his ‘power’, 2 Cor. 13:4; Rm. 6:4; Ph. 3:10; Col. 2:12; Ep. 1:19f; Heb. 7:16;  and because God raised him to life through the Holy Spirit, Rm. 8:11. Christ is established in glory as Kyrios, Ph 2:9-11+; Ac 2:36; Rm 14:9, deserving anew, this time in virtue of his messianic work, the name he had from eternity, ‘son of God’, Ac 13:33, Heb 1:5; %:5. Cf. Rm 8:11+; 9:5+.”

Parallel texts are:

1.       Rm 9:5 - They descended from the patriarchs, and from their flesh and blood came Christ who is above all, God forever blessed.^d Amen.  Footnote ^d says “Both the context and the internal development of the sentence imply that this doxology is addressed to Christ, Paul rarely gives Jesus the title ‘God’ though, cf Tt 2:13, or addresses a doxology to him, cf. Heb 13:21, but this is because he usually keeps this title to the Father, cf Rm 15:6, etc., and considers the divine persons not so much with an abstract appreciation of their nature as with a concrete appreciation of their functions in the process of salvation. Moreover, he has always in mind the the historical Christ in his concrete reality as God mad man, cf Ph 2:5+; Col 1:15+. For this reason he presents Christ as subordinated to the Father, 1 Co 3:23; 11:3, not only in the work of creation, 1 Co 8:6, but also in that of eschatological renewal, 1 Co 15:27f; cf Rm 16:27, etc. Nevertheless, the title “lord’, Kyrios, received by Christ at his resurrection, Ph 2:9-11; cf Ep 1:20-22; Heb 1:3f, is the title given by the LXX to Yahweh in the OT., Rm 10:9,13; 1 Co 2:16. For Paul, Jesus is essentially the ‘Son of God’, Rm 1:3-4,9; 5:10; 8:29; 1 Co 1:9; 15:28; 2 Co 1:19; Ga 1:16; 2:20; 4:4,6; Ep 4:13; 1 Th 1:10; cf Heb 4:14, etc., his ‘own Son’, Rm 8:3,32, ‘the Son of his love’, Col 1:13, who belongs to the sphere of the divine  by right, the sphere from which he came, 1 Co 15:47, being sent by God, Rm 8:3; Ga 4:4. The title ‘Son of God’ became his in a new way with the resurrection, Rm 1:4+; cf Heb 1:5; 5:5, but it was niot then that he received it since he pre-existed not   only as prefigured in the OT., 1 Co 10:4, but ontologically, Ph 2:6; cf 2 Co 8:9. He is the Wisdom, 1 Co 1:24,30, and the Image, 2 Co 4:4, by which and in which all things were created, Col 1:15-17; cf Heb 1:3; 1 Co 8:6, and have been re-created, Rm 8:29; cf. Col 3:10; 1:18-20, because into his own person is gathered the fullness of the godhead and of the universe, Col 2:9+. In him Gd has devised the whole plan of salvation, Ep 1:3f, and he, no less than the Father, is its accomplishment (cf. Rm 11:36; 1 Co 8:6 and Col 1:16,20). Tha Father raises to life and judges, so does the Son raise to life (cf Rm 1:4; 8:11+ and Ph 3:21) and judge (cf. Rm 2:16 and 1 Co 4:5; Rm 14:10 and 2 Co 5:10). In short, he is one of the three persons enumerated in the Trinitarian formulae, 2 Co 13:13+.”

2.       Rm 10:9 - If your lips confess that Jesus is Lord and if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,^e then you will be saved. Footnote ^e - Profession of faith, such as is made at baptism, is the outward expression of the inward commitment of the ‘heart’.

3.       1 Co 6:14 - God who raised the Lord from the dead and will by his power raise^h us up too. Footnote  ^h says “Var. ‘has raised’”.

Verse 5 says: Through him we received grace and our apostolic mission to preach the obedience of faith^e to all pagan nations in honor of his name. Footnote ^e says “Subjective genitive: the obedience implicit  in the virtue of faith. Cf. Ac. 6:7, Rm. 6:16-17, 10:16, 15:18, 16:19,26, 2 Co. 10:5-6, 2 Th. 1:8, 1 P. 1:22, Heb. 5:9, 11:8.”

As it has always been believed by many based on the trial of Jesus Christ, the majority is not always right nor on the side of the truth.

An quotation of Thomas E. Boomershine, PhD, from www.gotell.org/© 2010 GoTell Communications:

This story is part of Jesus' farewell discourse to the disciples…. This part of Jesus' last talk with the disciples in John is one of the central sources of a major doctrinal controversy, called the filioque that has divided the church. The description of the Holy Spirit in the Nicene Creed is that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. This was the form of the Creed that was originally approved at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. Later in the context of the ongoing controversies with Arian theology,the Western Church began to add that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father and the Son. Filioque means "and the Son" in Latin. In the eleventh century, the Western Church (Roman Catholic) added the filioque to the Nicene Creed. The Eastern Church (Orthodox) was greatly offended by this violation of the rule that had been established by an ecumenical council, that nothing would be added to the Nicene Creed without the approval of a full ecumenical council of the Eastern and the Western church. The result was a schism between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. In the eleventh century, the split became official and is with us today.

Thus, the Son and the Spirit are intimately related to the Father—are one with the Father. Their relationship is a relationship of mutual identification and mutual spiritual identity as well as each being a distinctive dimension of the character of God. It is one of the great ironies of the Christian religion that this statement from John, that he intended to create and sustain unity and collaboration, has become the source of division and schism. My own opinion is that this story reflects John's explicit intention to maintain the ambiguity. It is the ambiguity created by the intimate interaction of the different dimensions of God's spirit.

Later Jesus says that the Spirit will "take what is mine and declare it to you," in Greek ektuamu. Literally translated Jesus' statement is: He will receive "what is out of me and declare it to you and he will glorify it because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you." This describes precisely what has happened. The Holy Spirit has been present with us and has continued to reveal things to us in the course of the history of interpretation of the stories and sayings of Jesus. As we've lived through these  2000 years, Jesus' prayer has been answered and the Holy Spirit has continued to reveal things to us. The dynamic of this address is the dynamic of hope. Jesus was going away, he was going to die. His promise was that the Holy Spirit will come and be with us and will continue to make known to us the thoughts and words that he received from the Father.

An article “What is truth?”, by Matt Slick from www.carm.org :

"What is truth?" is a very simple question.  Of course, answering it isn't so simple.  We can offer definitions like "Truth is that which conforms to reality, fact, or actuality."  But this basic definition is not complete because its definition is open to interpretation and a wide variety of applications.  What is reality?  What is fact?  What is actuality?  How does perception affect truth?  We could offer answers for each of these questions, but then we could again ask similar questions of those answers… In order for truth to be defined properly, it would have to be a factually and logically correct statement.  In other words, it would have to be true.  But, perhaps we could look further at truth by determining what it is not.  Truth is not error.  Truth is not self-contradictory.  Truth is not deception.  Of course, it could be true that someone is being deceptive, but the deception itself isn't truth…”

From: http://www.gotquestions.org:

“The Greek word for “truth” is aletheia, which literally means to “un-hide” or “hiding nothing.” It conveys the thought that truth is always there, always open and available for all to see, with nothing being hidden or obscured. The Hebrew word for “truth” is emeth, which means “firmness,” “constancy” and “duration.” Such a definition implies an everlasting substance and something that can be relied upon.

“From a philosophical perspective, there are three simple ways to define truth:

   1. Truth is that which corresponds to reality.

   2. Truth is that which matches its object.

   3. Truth is simply telling it like it is.

“First, truth corresponds to reality or “what is.” It is real. Truth is also correspondent in nature. In other words, it matches its object and is known by its referent. Truth also matches its object. In short, truth is simply telling it like it is; it is the way things really are, and any other viewpoint is wrong.“

PETER'S PROFESSION (12th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle C)

Homily for the 12^thSunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

Based on Lk 9:18-24(Gospel), Zec 12:10-11 (First Reading) andGal 3:26-29 (Second Reading)

From the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”

PETER’S PROFESSION OF FAITH

The Gospel narrative for this 12^th Sunday in Ordinary Time is taken fromLk 9:18-24. The first episode for this gospel  from verses 18 to 21 is about Peter’s profession of faith^c   Footnote ^c says “Lk has left out a whole section of Mk (6:45-8:26)”.

Verse 18 says: Now one day when he was praying alone in the presence of his disciples he put this question to them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”

Parallel texts are:

1.       Mt 16:13-20 - When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is? (v. 13)”And they said, “Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets(v. 14)‘But you’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’ (v. 15)  Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ’ he said ‘the Son of the living God.’^d(v.16)  Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood^e that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven (v. 17).’ So I now say to you, you are Peter^f and upon this rock I will build my Church.^gAnd the gates of the underworld^hcan never hold out against it (v.18). I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatsoever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatsoever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.ⁱ(v.19).” Then he gave his disciples strict ordersnot to tell anyone that he was the Christ^j (v.20). Footnote ^dsays“In Mt Peter acknowledges not only that Jesus is the Messiah but also that he is the Son of God: this second title is not found in Mk and Lk. Cf. also 14:33 with Mk 6:51f. Cf Mt 4:3+”;Footnote ^e says“The expression indicates man, emphasizing his material, limited nature as opposed to that of the spirit world, Si 14:18; Rm 7:5+; 1 Co 15:50; Ga 1:16; Ep 6:12;  Heb 2:14; cf. Jn 1:13”; Footnote ^fsays“Neither the Greek word petrosnor even, as it seems, its Aramaic equivalent kephas (rock) was used as a person’s name before Jesus conferred it on the apostles’ leader to symbolize the part he was to play in the foundation of the Church. This change of name had possibly been made earlier, cf. Jn. 1:42; Mk. 3:16; Lk. 6:14”; Footnote ^g says“The Hebr. qahal which the Greek renders ekklesia means ‘an assembly called together’; it is used frequently in the OT to indicate the community of the Chosen People, especially the community of the desert period, cf. Ac. 7:38. Certain Jewish groups (among them the Essenes of Qumran) regarded themselves as the chosen remnant of Israel (Is. 4:3+), which was to survive in the latter days. These had also used the term that Jesus now adopts to indicate the messianic community, the community of the ‘new alliance’ sealed with his blood, Mt. 26:28+; Ep. 5:25. By using the term ‘assembly’ side by side with that of the kingdom of heaven, Mt. 4:17+, Jesus shows that this eschatological community (community of the end times) is to have its beginning here on earth in the form of an organized society whose leader he now appoints, Cf. Ac. 5:11+; 1 Co. 1:2+”; Footnote ^hsays “Greek: Hades: Hebrew: Sheol, the dwelling place of the Dead, cf. Nb. 16:33 +. Here its personified ‘gates’ suggest the powers of evil which first lead man into the death which is sin and then imprison him once for all in eternal death. The Church’s task will be to rescue the elect from death’s dominion, from the death of the body and above all from eternal death, so that it may lead them into the kingdom of heaven, cf. Col 1:13; 1 Co 15:26: Rv. 6:8; 20:13. In this the church follows its Master who died, descended into the underworld, cf. 1 P. 3:19+, and rose again. Ac. 2:27,31”; Footnote ⁱsays “The City of God, like the City of Death, has its gates too; they grant entrance only to those who are worthy of it. Peter has the keys. It is his function, therefore, to open or close to all who would come to the kingdom of heaven through the Church. ‘bind’ and ‘loose’ are technical rabbinic terms; primarily they have a disciplinary reference; one is ‘bound’ (condemned to) o ‘loosed’ (absolved from) excommunication. Their secondary usage is connected with doctrinal or juridical decisions: an opinion is ‘bound’ (forbidden) or ‘loosed’ {allowed). Of the household of God Peter is controller (the keys symbolize this, cf. Is. 22:22). In that capacity, he is to exercise the disciplinary power of admitting or excluding those he thinks fit; he will also, in the administration of the community, make necessary decision in questions of doctrinal belief and of moral conduct. The verdicts he deliver or the pronouncements he makes will be ratified by God i heaven. Catholic exegetes maintain that these enduring promises hold good not only for Peter himself but also for Peter’s successors. This inference, not explicitly drawn in the text, is considered legitimate because Jesus plainly intends to provide for his Church’s future by establishing a regime that will not collapse after Peter’s death. Two other texts, Lk. 22:31f and Jn. 21:15f, on Peter’s primacy emphasize that its operation is to be in the domain of faith; they also indicate that this makes him head not only of the Church after the death of Christ but of the apostolic group then and there; and Footnote ^j says“Vulg. ‘Jesus Christ’.

2.       Mk 8:27-30 - Jesus and his disciples left for the villages round Caesarea Philippi. On the way he put this question to his disciples, “Who do people say I am? (v. 27)”And they told him, ‘John the Baptist,’  they said ‘others Elijah’, others again,one of the prophets (v. 28).’“But you,’ he asked,‘who do you say I am?” Peter spoke up and said to him, “You are the Christ (v. 29)”. Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him (v. 30).

Verses 19 and 20 say: And they answered, “John the Baptist; others Elijah; and others say one of the ancient prophets come back to life’ ‘But you,’ he said them, “who do you say I am?” It was Peter who spoke up, ‘The Christ of God’ he said.

Parallel text for verse 19 is from Lk 9:8 that says: Others that Elijah had appeared, still others thatone of the ancient prophets had come back to life.

Verse 21 says: But he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone anything about this.

Parallel texts are:

1.       Lk 2:26 - It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death until he had set his eyes on the Christ of the Lord.ⁱFootnoteⁱ says‘the Christ of the Lord’ is the one whom the Lord anoints, cf. Ex 30:22+, i.e. consecrates for a saving mission: the king of Israel, God’s chosen prince, is thus consecrated and thus, pre-eminently, the messiah who is to establish the kingdom of God’.

2.       Lk 23:35 - The people stayed there watching him. As for the leaders, they jeered at him, “He saved others’ they said,  let him save himself if he is the Christ of God,  the Chosen One.”

3.       Mk 1:34 - And he cured many who were suffering from diseases of one kind or another; he also cast out many devils, but he would not allow them to speak, because they knew who he was.ⁱFootnote ⁱsays“Jesus forbids the news that he is the Messiah to be spread by the devils, 1:25,34; 3:12, by those he cured, 1:44; 5:43; 7:36; 8:26, even by the apostles, 8:30; 9:9. The silence is not to be broken till after his death, Mt. 10:27+. Since the prevailing idea of the Messiah was nationalistic and warlike, in sharp contrast with his own ideal, Jesus had to be very careful, at least on Israelite soil, cf. 5:19, to avoid giving a false and dangerous impression of his mission, cf. Jn. 6:15; Mt. 13:13+. This policy of silence (‘the messianic secret’) is not an invention of Mk’s, as some have claimed, but is in fact Christ’s own, though Mark has given it a special emphasis. With the exception of Mt. 9:30, Mt. and Lk. record the injunction to silence only in passages which are parallel with Mk, frequently omitting it even in these cases.”

The second episode in this gospel in verse 22  is about First prophecy of the Passion^d

Verse 22 says: “The Son of Man’he said, is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and to beput to death and to be raised up on the third day.”

Parallel texts are:

1.       Mt 16:21 - From that time^k, Jesus began to make clear to his disciples that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and suffer grievously at the hands of the elders, and chief priests and scribes, to be put to death and to  be raised on the third day. Footnote ^k says“Jesus has just elicited from his disciples the first explicit profession of faith in him as Messiah. At this crucial moment he tells them for the first time of his coming Passion: he is not only the glorious Messiah, he is also the suffering servant. Within the next few days this teaching method will be pursued in a similar situation: the glorious transfiguration will be followed by an injunction to silence and a prediction of Passion, 17:1-12. It is Christ’s way of bracing the disciples’ faith for the approaching crisis of death and resurrection”.

2.       Mk 8:31 - First prophecy of the Passion:And he began to teach them that the Son of Man` was destined to suffer grievously, be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and to be put to death, and after three days to rise again.

3.       Lk 9:44 - From your part, you must have these words constantly in your mind:the Son of Man is going to be handed over into the power of men.”

4.       Lk 12:50 - There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress till it is over!

5.       Lk 17:25 - But first he must suffer grievously and be rejected by this generation.

6.       Lk 18:31 - Then he taking the Twelve aside he said to them, “Now, we are going up to Jerusalem and everything written by the prophets^d about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. Footnote ^d says “Lk often remarks that the Passion was foretold by th prophets, Lk. 24:25,27,44; Ac 2:23+; 3:18,24+; 8:32-35; 13:27; 26:22f”.

7.       Lk 24:7,26,44 - That the Son of Man had to be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day (v. 7).  Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer* these things and enter into his glory? (v. 26) Then^k he told them, “This is what I meant when I said while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms, has to be fulfilled (v. 44)”Footnote ^ksays“The impression given is that all these events took place on the same day of the resurrection. See Mt. 28:10+”.

The Third episode in this gospel narrative from verses 23 to 24 is about the Condition of following Christ. Verse 23 says: Then to all he said, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me.

Parallel texts are:

1.       Lk 14:27 - Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

2.       Jn 12:26 - If a man serves, he must follow me, whenever I am,^e my servant will be there too. If anyone serves me, my Father will honor him.  Footnote ^e says“In the glory of the Father, cf. 14:3; 17:24.”

Verse 24 says: For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, that man will save it.

Parallel texts are:

1.       Lk 17:33 - Anyone who tries to preserve his life will lose it, and anyone  wholoses it will keep it safe.

2.       Mt 10:39 - Whoever finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find itⁿ. Footnote ⁿ says “In Mt this dictum is given in a more archaic form than in Mk or Lk: ‘find’ covers the idea of ‘winning’ ‘securing for oneself’, cf. Gn 26:12; Ho 12:9; Pr 3:13; 21:21. See Mt. 16:25.”

3.       Jn 12:25 - Anyone who loves his life loses it; and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for the eternal life.

First Reading: Zec 12:10-11

Verse 10 says: But over the house of David and the citizens of Jerusalem I will pour a spirit  of kindness and prayer. They will look on the one whom they have pierced;^ethey will mourn for him as for an only son, and weep for him as people weep for a first-born child.  Footnote ^esays  ‘the one’ Theodotion, Jn. 19:37; ‘me’ Hebr. The death of the Pierced Oneoccurs in an eschatological context (cf. Rv. 1:7), ch. The raising of the siege of Jerusalem, the national mourning, vv. 10-14, the opening of the fountain of salvation, 13:1. The messianic age thus depends on a passion and a mysterious death comparable to the sufferings of the servant in Is. 52:13-53:12. Jn. 19:37 sees is this passage the figure of the passion of Christ, the ‘only son’ and the ‘first-born’, cf. Jh.  1:18,; Col. 1:15, whose pierced body will be ‘looked on’ with the saving eye of faith, cf. Jn 3:14+; Nb. 21:8-9. And whose opened side is a fountain of salvation, Jn. 19:34; 7:38.

Parallel texts are:

1.       Mt. 24:30 - And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven;^o then too all the peoples of the earth will beat their breasts; and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.^pFootnote ^o says“For the Fathers this ‘sign’ was Christ’s cross but possibly it is Christ himself proving by the triumph of his kingdom on earth that he has truly risen and is in glory”; and Footnote^psays“In these words Daniel foretold the establishment of the messianic kingdom by a Son of Man coming on the clouds. The cloud is the usual accompaniment of both OT and NT theophanies: Ex. 13:22+; 19:16+; 34:5+; Lv 16:2; 1 K 8:10-11; Ps 18:11; 97:2; 104:3; Is 19:1; Jr. 4:13Ezk 1:4; 10:3f; 2 M 2:8. For NT, cf. Mt 17:5; Ac 1:9,11; 1 Th 4:17; Rv 1:7; 14:14”.

2.       Jn. 3:14 - As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up

3.       Jn19:37 - And again in another place scripture says: They will look on the one whom they have pierced.^vFootnote ^vsays ‘They will look’, in the Johannine sense of ‘see and understood’, cf. 3:14+. For Jn, the Roman soldier symbolizes the pagans who will be converted cf. 12:20-21,32, and notes. Similarly, Mt. 27:54+ and Mk 15:39+. Cf. also Lk 23:47,48; Mt 24:30; Rv 1:7.

4.       Rv. 1:7 - It is he is coming on the clouds,everyone  will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the races of the earth will mourn over him. This is the truth. Amen.

Verse 11 says:  When that day comes, there will be great mourning in Judah, like the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.

Parallel texts are:

1.       Am 8:10 - I am going to turn your feasts into funerals, all your singings into lamentation; I will have your loins all in sackcloth, your heads all shaved.^kI will make it a mourning like the mourning for an only son,as long as it lastsit will be like a day of bitterness.Footnote  ^ksays “Signs of mourning”.

2.       Jn 3:16 - Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not be lost but may have eternal life.

3.       Col 1:15,18 - Christ is the head of all creation^eHe is the image of the unseenGod, and the firstborn of all creation (v. 15), for him were created all things in heaven and on earth: everything visible and everything invisible, Thrones, Dominations, Sovereignties, Powers - all things were created through him and for him (v. 16). Before anything was created, he existed, and heholds all things in unity (v.17). Now the church is his body, he is the head, ^fAs he is the Beginning, he was first to be born from the dead, so that he should be first in every way(v.18). Footnote ^esays “In this poem Paul introduces two ways in which can claim to be the ‘head’ of everything that exists:1. He is the head of creation, of all that exists naturally, vv. 15-17; 2. He is head of the new creation and all that exists supernaturally through having been saved, vv. 18-20. The subject of the poem is the pre-existent Christ, but considered only in so far as he is manifest in the unique historic person that is the Son of God made man, cf. Ph 2:5+. It is as the incarnate God that Jesus is the ‘image of God’, i.e. his human nature was the visible manifestation of God who is invisible, cf.Rm 8:29+, and it is as such, in this concrete human nature, and as part of creation, that Jesus is called the ‘first born of creation’ - not in the temporal sense of having been born first, but in the sense of having been given the first place of honor”; Footnote ^f says“On the church a Christ’s body, cf. 1 Co. 12:12f, he is called the ‘head’ of his own body both in a temporal sense (v. 18, i.e., he was the first to rise from the dead) and in a spiritual sense (v. 20, i.e. he is the leader of all the saved).”

Second Reading: Gal 3:26-29

Verse 26 says: And you are, all of you, ⁿ sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Footnoteⁿ says“All, i.e. not only ‘we’, who are Jews, but ‘you’, who are pagans.”

Parallel texts are:

1.       Ga 4:5-7… to redeem the subjects of the Law and to enable us to be adopted as sons.^d  (v. 5). The proof that you are sons is that God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts: the Spirit that cries, “Abba, Father” (v. 6), and it is this that makes you a son, you are not a slave anymore;   and if God has made you a son then he has made you an heir (v.7).Footnote^d says“The two aspects of redemption, negative and positive: the slave attains freedom by becoming a son. First and foremost the adoption to sonship is not simply a legal right to inherit, v. 7, but the real and inward giving of the Spirit, v. 6.”

2.       Jn 1:12 - But to all who did accept him he gave power to becomeⁱ children of God,to all who believe in the name of him^j. Footnoteⁱ – says “Var. ‘to be called’”; Footnote ^jsays ”‘to those who believe in his name’ omitted by many of the Fathers.”

3.       Rm 8:14f,29 - Everyone moved^h by the spirit is a son of God (v. 14).The spirit you received is not the spirit of slaves bringing fear into your lives again; it is the spirit of sons, and it makes us cry out ‘Abba, Father!’^I(v. 15). They are the ones he chose especially long ago and intended to become true images of his Son,^q so that the Son might be the eldest of many brothers (v. 29)Footnote^h says“‘led’ seems inadequate: the Holy Spirit is much more than one who inwardly admonishes, he is the principle of a life truly divine, cf. Ga. 2:20”; Footnote^q says“Christ, the image of God in the primordial creation, Col 1:15+; cf. Heb. 1:3, has now come, by a new creation, 2 Co 5:17+, to restore to fallen man  the splendor of that image which has been darkened by sin, Gn 1:26+, 3:22-24+; Rm 5:12+. He does this by forming man in a still more splendid image of a son of God (Rm 8:29); thus, sound moral judgment is restored to the ‘new man’, Col 3:10+, and also his claim to glory which he had sacrificed by sin, Rm 3:23+. This glory which Christ as the image of God possesses by right, 2 Co 4:4, is progressively communicated to the Christian, 2 Co 3:18, until his body is itself clothed in the image of the ‘heavenly man, 1 Co 15:49”.

Verse 27 says: All baptized in Christ,^o you have all clothed yourselves in Christ.Footnote^o says“Faith and baptism are not being contrasted, one involves the other, cf. Rm. 6:4+”.

Parallel texts are:

1.       Rm 6:4 - In other words, ^a when we were baptized we went into the tomb with him and joined him in death, ^b so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glory, we too might live a new life.Footnote ^a says“Lit. ‘therefore’; var. ‘for’”; Footnote^b says“Baptismis not separated from faith but goes with it, Ga. 3:6f, Ep. 4:5, Heb. 10:22, cf. Ac. 12f,37, 16:31-33, 18:8, 19:2-5, and gives it outward expression by the operative symbolism of the baptismal ceremonial. For this reason, Paul ascribes to faith and to baptism the same effects (cf. Ga. 2:16-20 and Rm. 6:3-9). The sinner is immersed in water (the etymological meaning of ‘baptize’ is ‘dip’) and thus ‘buried’ with Christ, Col. 2:12, with whom also he emerges to ‘resurrection’, Rm. 8:11+, as a ‘new creature’, 2 Co. 5:17+, a ‘new man’, Ep. 2:15+, a member of the one Body animated by the one Spirit, 1 Co. 12:13, Ep. 4:4f. This resurrection will not be complete or final until the end of time, 1 Co. 15:12+ (but cf. Ep. 2:6), but is already taking place in the form of a new life lived ‘in the Spirit’, vv. 8:11,13, 8:2f, Ga. 5:16-24. The death-resurrection symbolism of baptism is particularly Pauline, but this initial rite of Christian life, Heb. 6:22, is also spoken of in the NT, as a cleansing bath, Ep.5:26, Heb. 10:22, cf. 1 Co. 6:11, Tt. 3:5, a new birth, Jn. 3:5, Tt. 3:5, cf. 1 P. 1:3, cf. Ep. 5:14. On the baptism of water and the baptism of the Spirit, cf. Ac. 1:5+;  these two aspects of the consecration of the Christian are apparently the ‘anointing’ and the seal’ of 2 Co. 1:21f. According to 1 P. 3:21, the ark of Noah is an antetype of baptism.

2.       Rm 13:14 - Let your armor be the Lord Jesus Christ; forget about satisfying your bodies with all its cravings.

3.       Ep 4:24 - so that you can put on the new self that has been created in God’s way, in the goodness and holiness of the truth.ⁿFootnoteⁿ says“Each human being should ‘put on the New Man’, Ep 2:15+, (here, as in v. 22, translates ‘self’), so as to be re-created in him, cf. Ga 3:27; Rm 13:14. In some places Paul talks in the same way about the ‘new creature’, 2 Co 5:17+.”

Verse 28 says: and there are no more distinctions between Jews and Greek, slave and free, male and female, but all of you are one in Christ Jesus ^p.Footnote ^psays“Var. ‘you are all of Christ Jesus’”.

Parallel Texts are:

1.       Rm 10:12…it makes no distinction between Jews and Greeks: all belong to the same Lord who…

2.       1 Co 12:13 - For in one Spirit we were all baptized, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens, and one Spirit was given for us all to drink.

3.       Col 3:11 - And in that image there is no room for distinction between Greek and Jew, between the circumcised or the uncircumcised, or between barbarian and Scythian, slave and free men. There is only Christ: he is everything and he is in everything.^fFootnote ^f - The new creation will not be divided into races and religions and cultures and social classes in the way the present creation has been since the Fall: the whole world will be reunited in Christ.

Verse 29 says: Merely by belonging to Christ you are the posterity of Abraham, the heirs he was promised.

Parallel texts are:

1.       Jn 17:21f - Maythey all be one, may they be one in us as you Father, are in me and I in you, so that the world may believe that it was you who sent me.

2.       Heb 6:12…never growing careless, but imitating those who have the faith and the perseverance to inherit the promises.

3.       Jm 2:5 - Listen, my dear brothers, it was those who are poor according the world that God chose to be rich in^e faith and to be the heirs to the kingdom which he promised to those who love him?Footnote ^e says“i.e. poor in money”.

Peter’s Profession of Faith

HOMILY FOT THE THEME “CHURCH”

1.       Two dimensions of the Church:

The church has two dimensions or shape: the material and the spiritual dimension (2 Co. 4:16-1; 5:16).

The material dimension is called “visible church”, or the manifested Church, which is here on earth being composed of people and things, like rituals or sacraments that are subject to the laws of time and space and respond to material description and physical law (1 Co. 12:27; Ef. 4:11-12).

The spiritual dimension is also called the “invisible church”, or the unmanifested church, that has spiritual composition like doctrines, teachings, and discipline that are implemented inside the church (Breviary IV, p. 521; Dt. 32:8, 43; Job 38:7; Sal. 82:1; Dan. 7:10; Heb. 12:22-23; Apo. 4:2-5:15).

These two compositions of the Church, the material and the spiritual, only shows the two compositions or nature of the person of Jesus Christ who “was known in the flesh, but that is not what we know of him today" (2 Co. 5:16).

It is true that the original state of Jesus Christ is the divine, or spiritual, state, but he manifested himself in the material state and remove his divine state so as redeem man from his sinful state and to save him from the chastisement for sin (Phil 2:6-11).

Because of this, he restored back the Church, which is the manifested sacrament of his glorious body, so that he could put all those people whom God wants to save (Ac 4:47), from the evil world.

The Church being the Mystical Body of Christ whose head is himself and all the members are its parts, form just one reality which is “the Church united to his spouse who is Christ,  meanwhile she remains the fruitful spouse who brings forth the children of God on earth” (Eph. 5:23-25).

The work of Jesus Christ in saving his own body  does not merely consist of putting every one inside the church under his charge, but to remove his church from the material estate to her spiritual state.

Even if Jesus Christ took to flesh and assumed a physical, or material, body, this happened in order to erase the material state and to redeem it to become a glorious  spiritual body.

It is the same with the Church. Even if it is said that she exists under  physical or material law, and under the law of the flesh, but she clearly shows the effort of saving Christ’s Body from its material shape and state to its spiritual, or heavenly, home, and to erase all material and physical things  (2 Co. 4:16-18).

This is the result of our knowledge of the affairs of the Church in the course of history as a human society, that, while the Church is composed of living people on earth, she lives according to her spiritual reality, she is pure and sincere in her spiritual work of teaching and explaining the teachings of Christ. But if she lives according to the material reality, what happened in the Church is her apostasy from the ideal, or spiritual, teaching of religion and she surrendered herself under the influence and lifestyle of this world which she should repudiate for the sake of the superior teaching of the heavenly reality or religion (A religion is called heavenly if this came from heaven itself, and was not founded by any man).

But he have a big hope in God, that even if our Holy Mother Church has apostatized from the pure and spiritual teaching of Christ and the apostles and turned to paganism, as the Apostle John narrated in his book of the Apocalypse, about the Prostitute Woman who followed the power of the dragon who was thrown down from heaven, but this woman had hoped for the mercy of God like what happened to the prostitute Rahab (Jos 2:1-21; 6:17, 22-25; Hebr. 11:31; Jas. 2:25) who was saved from the fall of Jericho and united to the children of God, who were the chosen people of Israel.

In the same way, this Church who apostatized since the year 313 AD, which is the Constantine Church, that if she return back to God and change from her pagan ways and from being used by the Dragon and his beasts as their instrument, then she can return back to her being our Holy Mother Church, our original Christian Church and the Church of God so that she can return back into being his chosen people, the glorious heavenly Jerusalem, who is the spouse of Christ. This renewed Church is what the Vatican Council II of 1962 AD would like to bring about.

2.       Regarding the saying “Outside the Church, there is no salvation”:

According to the decree of Vatican Council II on Ecumenism (UR), “For it is through Christ’s Catholic Church, which is the all-embracing means of salvation, that the fullness of salvation can be obtained. It was to the apostolic college alone, which Peter is the head, that we believe our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the one body of Christ” (UR 3). The custody and proclamation of the word of revelation has been entrusted by Christ to the Church, so that the salutary truths of his life, death and resurrection would remain historically present in the world.”

Kun siring, an Sta. Iglesia natutubod asin nagtutukdo na sa luwas kan Iglesia mayo nin kaligtasan sosog naman sa deklarasyon kan banal na kasuratan na nagsasabi na “Sinda gabos nagkatiripon sa danay na pamibi, kaiba an nagkapipirang babae, kaiba si Maria na ina ni jesus, asin an saiyang mga tugang na lalaki…Sarong aldaw, nagtindog si Pedro tanganing magtaram sa mga katugangan - igwa duman nin masyuento-beyteng persona sa kongregasyon” (Gibo 1:14-15).

“An gabos na nag-aapod sa ngaran kan Kagurangnan makakaligtas” (Gibo 2:21; 4:12; Rom. 10:9).

“Sa aldaw na iyan maabot sa tres mil katawo an naidagdag sa saindang bilang. Nag-omaw sinda sa Dios asin tinitingara sindang lambing saro. Aro-aldaw idinudugang sa saindang komunidad idtong nakadestinong iligtas” (Gibo 2:41, 47).

An pinaka-tradisyonal asin pinakaharaning simbolo tanganing malinaw na ikapaliwanag an katotoohan kan kasabihan na ini iyo an dahong ni Noe na nagligtas kan pito katawo na miyembro kan pamilya niya sa Dakulang Dilubyo (Gen. 6:14; Kad. 10:4; 2 P. 2:5; 1 P. 3:20; Gen/ 7:7). An arka iyo an nagligtas sa pamilya ni Noes a dakulang baha asin idtong mga masumbikal na tawo nasa luwas kan arka nagkaralamos asin napuho gabos.

Siring kaini an ladawan kan Sta. Iglesia. Siya sarong dahong na pailihan kan mga tawong boot nin Dios na ikaligtas sa makasalan na kinaban, asin idtong mga tawong habong magtubod sa Dios asin minadanay na nasa luwas kan Sta. Iglesia namemeligrong magadan asin mapuho.

An Sta. Iglesia igwa nin misyon na magsapod kan mga tawo hale sa dakulang baha nin pagkakasala, asin darahon an gabos na tawo pasiring sa laog kan Iglesia. Huli kaini, an Iglesia nagigin sarong tanda, o sakramento, unibersal nin kaligatasan (Konstitusyon Pastoral kan Konsilyo Vaticano II dapit sa Iglesias a Modernong Kinaban - GS 40, 45, Brebyaryo, IV, p. 403) Hilnga man an Ad Gntes 4-5, Breb, IV, pahina 1762). Dapit sa trabaho (serbisyo) asin misyon kan Sta, Iglesia, an mga ini iyo an tutukaron sa pag-abot kan temang “Ministeryo asin Misyon” para sa bulan na Nobyembre 2000.

3.       Pagtalikod kan Sta. Iglesia:

An pagtalikod kan Sta. Iglesia dai nangangahulugan na an Sta. Iglesia an naitalikod o nagtalikod kundi an mga miyembro sana. Hilnga Juan 6:66; 16:32; Mt. 26:30-31, 56)

An Sta. Iglesiang tunay na pinamamayohan ni Kristo dai nanggad naitalikod nin siisya pa man sosog sa Mt. 16:16 na iyo an pangako ni Kristo para sa Sta. Iglesia.

PEACE IN THE NEW JERUSALEM (6th Sunday of Easter - Cycle C)

Homily for the 6^th Sunday of Easter (Cycle C)

Based on Jn 14:23-29 (Gospel), Ac 15:1-2, 22-29 (First Reading) and (Second Reading)

From the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”

PEACE IN THE NEW JERUSALEM

“I will show you… the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God” (Rev. 21:10)

The gospel narrative for this 6^th Sunday of Easter (Cycle C) is taken from Jn 14:23-29. Verses 23, 24 and 25 says: Jesus replied: “If anyone loves me he will keep my word^p, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him. Those who do not love me do not keep my words. And my word^q is not my own: it is word of the one who sent me. “I have said this things to you while still with you; Footnote ^p  -says  “As the world does not: 8:37,43,47.”;  and  Footnote ^q  says “‘himself’ refers to God the Father who will glorify the Son of Man by taking him to himself in glory. Cf. 17:5,22,24.”

Parallel texts for verse 23 are:

1.       Jn 3:11 - I tell you most solemnly, we speak only about what we know and witness only to what we have seen and yet you people reject our evidence^e.   Footnote ^e says “Jesus does not speak on his own initiative, 7:17-18; he declares what he has seen ‘with the Father’, 1:18, 3:11, 8:38, cf. 8:24+; it is the Father’s words and teaching that he hands on to man, 3:34, 8:28, 12:49,50, 14:24, 17:8,14; he is himself the Word, 1:1,14. This Word is not idle: it calls all things from nothing, 1:1+, it calls the dead from the tomb, 11:43,44, 5:28-29; it gives life to the soul, 5:24, 6:63, 8:51; it confers the Spirit, the source of immortality, 1:33+; 20:22, and so makes men children of God, 10:35, 1:12. It is required only than man should have faith in the Word, 1:12, ;dwell’ in it, cf. 8:31, ‘keep’ it, 8:51,55, 12:47, 14:23, 15:20, 17:6, obey its command which is love, 13:34. Nevertheless, the Word is enigmatic, 2:20+, and difficult, cf. 6:60, 7:36; it makes its way only into humble hearts. Those who hear it, therefore, respond differently, 7:43, 10:19; some believe, 4:41, 7:40f,46, 8:30, others go away disappointed, 6:66, in spite of the ‘signs’, 2:11+; this same rejected Word will judge them at the last day, 12:48.”

2.       Mt 11:27 - Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; an no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.^j Footnote ^j –says  “V. 27 has a Johannine flavor: awareness of Christ’s divine sonship exists in the deepest stratum of the synoptic tradition as well as in Jn”.

3.       1 Jn 2:5 - But when anyone does obey what he has said. God’s love comes to perfection in him.^b Footnote ^b says: “Lit.’in him the love of God has been perfected (reached its goal)’ this refers more to God’s love fo us than to our love for him.”

4.       Dt 7:12-13  - ‘Listen to these ordinance, be true to them and observe them, and in return Yahweh your God will be true to the covenant and the kindness he promised your fathers solemnly (v. 12), He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers; he will bless the fruit of your body and the produce of your soil, your corn, your wine, your oil, the issue of your cattle, the young of your flock, in the land he swore to your fathers he would give you.

5.       Si 4:10,14 - Be like a father to orphans, and as good as a husband to widows^a (v. 10). Whoever holds her close will inherit honor, and wherever he walks the Lord will bless him. Footnote ^a says ‘widows’ Hebr.; ‘their mothers’ Greek.

6.       Ep 3:17…so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then, planted in love and built on love…

7.       Rv 3:20 - Look, I am standing at the door, knocking. If one of you hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in to share his meal; side by side with me

Verse 26 says: But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you^r. Footnote ^r says “In place of the departed Christ, the faithful will have the Spirit, 14:16, 17; 16:7, cf. 1:33+. He is the ‘parakletos’  who intercedes with the Father, cf. 1 Jn. 2:1, and whose voice is heard in human courts, 15:26,27, cf. LK. 12:11p., Mt. 10:19-20p. Ac. 5:32. He is the Spirit of truth, leading men to the very fullness of truth, 16:33, teaching them to understand the mystery of Christ – fulfillment of the scriptures, 5:39+, the meaning of his words, 2:19+, of his actions, and his ‘signs’, 14:26, 16:13, 1 Jn. 2:20f,27, all hitherto obscure to the disciples, 2:22, 12:16, 13:7, 20:9. In this way the Spirit is to bear witness to Christ, 15:26, 1 Jn. 5:6,7, and shame the unbelieving world, 16:8-11.”

Parallel texts are:

1.       Jn 2:22…and when Jesus rose from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the words he had said.

2.       Jn 12:16 - At that time, his disciple did not understand this, but later, after, after Jesus had been glorified, they remembered that this had been written about him and that this was in fact how they had received him.

3.       Jn 13:7 - Jesus answered and said to him, “At the moment you do not understand what I am doing, but later you will understand.

4.       Jn 14:17 - That Spirit of truth^j whom the world can never receive since it neither sees nor knows him; but you know him, because he is with you, he is in you.^k Footnote ^j says “He who reveals and inspires the true worship of God, 4:23f, as opposed to the prince of this world who is ‘the father of lies’, 8:44; 1 Jn 4:3f.”; and  Footnote ^k says “Var. ‘he will be in you’.”

5.       Jn 15:26 - When the Advocate comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who issues from^g  the Father, he will be my witness. Footnote ^g says “The sending of the Spirit into the world rather than the eternal ‘proceeding’ from the Father within the Trinity.”

6.       Jn 16:7,13-15 - Still, I must tell you the truth: it is for your own good that I am going because unless I go, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you (v. 7).  But when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself but will say what he hears, and will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come.^e (v.13).He will glorify me, since all he tells you will be taken from what is mine (v.14). Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: All he tell you will be taken from what is mine.^f (v.15). Footnote ^e–says “The new order of that things that is to result from Christ’s death and resurrection; and  Footnote ^f  says “By revealing the hidden depth of the mystery of Jesus, the Spirit makes his glory known. Jesus, in his turn, manifests the glory of the Father, 17:4, from whom comes everything he possesses, 3:35; 5:22,26; 13:3; 17:2. The Father is the source of the revelation communicated by the Son and brought to completion by the Spirit who in his way glorifies both Son and Father. There are not three revelations but one.”

7.       Jn 20:9 - Till this moment they failed to understand the teaching of scripture,^c that he must rise from the dead. Footnote ^c says “Cf. Ps 16:8-11; 2:7; Ac 2:24-31; 13:32-37; 1 Co 15:4.”

8.       1 Co 2:10 - This are the very things that God has revealed to us through the Spirit, for the Spirit reaches the depth of everything, even the depths of God.

9.       Ep 3:5 - This mystery that has now been revealed through the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets^c was unknown to anyone in past generations. Footnote ^c says “The NT prophets, cf. 2:20+. The OT prophets had only an obscure and imperfect knowledge of the mystery of the Messiah, cf 1 P 1:10-12; Mk 13:17.”

10.   1 Jn 2:20,27 - But you have been anointedⁱ by the Holy One, and have all received the knowledge.^j (v. 20). But you have not lost the anointing that he gave you, and you do not need anyone to teach you;ⁿ the anointing he gave teaches you everything; you are anointed with truth, not with a lie, and as he had  taught you, you must stay in him (v. 27) Footnote ⁱ says “In the OT, the chrism that was to anoint the messiah (the ‘anointed’’) was identified, Is 11:2; 61:1, with the (holy) Spirit or Breath of Yahweh. Christians share in this anointing that teachers them the true gnosis or knowledge.“; Footnote ^j  says “var. ‘you know all things’.’ and  Footnote ⁿ says “Christians are taught by the apostles, 1:3,5; 2:7,24m, but merely hearing what is said is not enough, the message must penetrate them and this it cannot do except through the grace of the Holy Spirit, cf. 2:20+.”

Verse 27 says: Peace^s I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. Footnote ^s says “The customary Jewish greeting and farewell, cf. Lk. 10:5p; it means soundness of body but came to be used of the perfect happiness and the deliverance which the Messiah would bring. All this Jesus gives.”

Parallel texts are:

1.       Rm 5:1 - So far we have seen that,  through our Lord Jesus Christ by faith, we are  judged righteous and at peace with God.

2.       Ep 2:14-18 - For he is the peace between us, and has made the two into one and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart^,l actually destroying in his own person the hostility (v. 14).Caused by the rules and decrees of the Law. ^m This was to create one single New Man ⁿ in himself out of the two of them and by restoring peace… (v. 15). Through the cross, to unite them both in single Body^o and reconcile them with God. I his own person he killed the hostility (v. 16). Later, he came^p to bring the good news of peace, peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near at hand (v. 17). Through him, both of us have  in the one Spirit^q our way to come to the Father (v. 18). Footnote ^l says “The wall separating the court of the Jews from the court of the pagans in the Temple, cf. Ac. 21:28f”; Footnote ^msays “The Mosaic Law gave the Jews a privileged status and separated them from pagans. Jesus abolished this Law by fulfilling it once for all on the cross, Col. 2:14+.; Footnote ⁿ – This new man is the prototype of the new humanity that God recreated (2Co. 5:17+) in the person of Christ, the second Adam (1 Co. 15:45) after killing the sinfully corrupt race of the first Adam in the crucifixion (Rm. 5:12f, 8:3, 1 Co. 15:21). This New Adam has been created in the goodness and holiness of the truth, 4:24, and he is unique because in him the boundaries between any one group and the rest of the human race all disappear, Col. 3:10f, Ga. 3:27f). Footnote ^o says “This ‘single Body’ is both the physical body of Jesus that was executed by crucifixion, Col 1:22+, and the Church or ‘mystical’ body of Christ in which, once they were reconciled, all the parts function in their own place, 1 Co 12:12+.”; Footnote ^p says “Through the apostles who in his name preached the Good News of salvation and peace”; Footnote ^q says “The one spirit that gives life to the single body (of Christ who is one with his Church) is the Holy Spirit who has changed the form of the body now it has risen, and by doing so has come down on each of the parts of which it is made up. The Trinitarian structure  of this section is repeated in v. 22”

3.       2 Th. 3:16 - May the Lord of peace himself give you peace all time and in every way.^d The Lord be with all of you. Footnote^d says “We do not know what Paul refers to when he talks about a cause that delays the parousla of Christ. All he says if that it is something, v.6, or someone, v.7, that can ‘delay’ it. This person or power blocks the coming of Christ by preventing manifestation of the Messiah’s enemy who must precede the coming of the Messiah himself.”  

Verse 28 says: You heard me say: ‘I am going away, and shall return.’  If you loved me you would have been glad to know that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.^t  Footnote ^t says “Through the Son is the Father’s equal, 10:30+; 8:24+, his glory is for the moment veiled, 1:14+; his return to the Father will reveal it again. 17:5+. Cf. Ph 2:6-9; Heb 1:3.”

Parallel text is Jn 8:14 that says: Jesus replied:  “Even if it is true that I am testifying on my own behalf, but my testimony is still valid, because I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going^e. Footnote ^e says “It is enough for the Son to be his own witness since he alone knows the mystery of his heavenly origin, cf. Mt 11:27p.”

Verse 29 says: I have told you this now before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe.

Parallel texts are:

1.       Jn 13:19 - I tell you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe that I am He^m. Footnote ^m  says “Because it demonstrates Christ’s superhuman knowledge and fulfills the scripture, Judas’ betrayal and Christ’s death will confirm the disciples’ faith.” 

2.       Jn 16:4 - But I have told you all this, so that when the time for it comes you may remember that I told you.

The First Reading is from Ac 15:1-2, 22-29. This is about the Controversy at Antioch. Parallel text is Ga 2:1-9 that says: It was not fourteen years^a had passed  that I went up to Jerusalem again. I went with Barnabas and took Titus with me (v. 1). I went there as a result of a revelation, and I privately I laid before   the leading men the Good News as I proclaim it among the pagans; I did so for fear the course I was adopting or had already would not be allowed ^b (v. 2). And what happened? Even though Titus who had come with me is a Greek, he was not obliged to be circumcised.^c (v. 3).  The question came up only because  of some who do not really belong to the brotherhood have furtively crept in to spy on the liberty we enjoy in Christ Jesus, and want to reduce us all to slavery (v. 4). I was so determined to safeguard for you the true meaning of the Good News that I refused even out of deference to yield to such people for one moment ^d (v. 5) As a result, these people who are acknowledge leaders – not that their importance matters to me, since God has no favorites – these leaders, as I say, had nothing to add to the Good News as I preached it. ^e (v. 6). On the contrary, they recognized that I had been commissioned  to preach it to the uncircumcised, just as Peter to the circumcised (v. 7). The same person whose action made Peter the apostle of the circumcised had give men a similar mission to the pagans (v. 8). So, James, Cephas and John,^f these pillars, these pillars, shook hands Barnabas and me as a sign of partnership; we were to go to the pagans and they to the circumcised^g (v. 9). Footnote ^a says “ Reckoning from the last meeting with Peter or else, preferably, from Paul’s conversion. It is possible that the ‘three years’ of 1:18 and the ‘fourteen’ of 2:1 are no more the one-and-a-half and twelve-and-a-half respectively, since it was customary to court even the last few days or the first days of a year as a whole year; Footnote ^b says “Lit ‘for fear I was running or had run to no purpose’. Paul is not having second thoughts about the truth of his gospel, he is concerned that when new churches are founded they should keep in touch with the mother church; this is why he felt the collection for the poor’ in Jerusalem to be important, cf. 1 Co 16:1+:see v.10.; Footnote ^c say “Paul insisted that Timothy be circumcised since his mother was a Jewess. Ac 16:3, cf. 1 Co 9:20; a Jew being defined as one whose mother is Jewish.; Footnote ^d say “Lit, ‘we did not yield’ . . . ‘By omitting ‘not’ the Old Latin version makes Paul admit that he gave way for a moment. Om, ‘out of deference’; Footnote ^e says “Lit, ‘laid down nothing more for me’, cf. v.2.”; Footnote  ^f says “‘James, Cephas and John’; var. ‘James, Peter and John’, or ‘James and John’”; and Footnote ^g says “This distinction is not racial but geographical: ‘the circumcised’ (lit. ‘the circumsion’) refers primarily to the Jews in Palestine, and when Paul went among the gentiles the resident Jews were his first concern, Ac 12:5+.”

Verses 1 and 2 of the First Reading say: ^aThen some men  came down from Judea^b and taught the brothers. “Unless you have yourselves circumcised in the tradition of Moses, you cannot be saved.” This led to disagreements,  and after Paul and Barnabas had had a long argument with these men, it was arranged that Paul and Barnabas and others of the church^c should go up to Jerusalem and discuss the problem with the apostles^d and elders.  Footnote ^a says “The events of this chapter raise several difficulties: 1. Vv. 5-7a repeat vv. 1-2a as if the author, having two different accounts of how the controversy started, decided to give both as they stood. 2. V.6 gives the impresio9n that the community leaders held a private meeting, but vv. 12, 22, suggest the debate took place before the whole Christian assembly. 3. The meeting issues a decree about how Christian  converts from paganism must observe purity rites, and it entrusts this decree to Paul, vv. 22f; later, however ( in 21:25), James seems to assume that Paul was then being informed of this decree for the first time. Paul himself does not speak of the decree either in Ga 2:6 (speaking of the Jerusalem meeting) or in 1 Co 8-10; Rm 14 (discussing similar problems); 4. Through the decree of Ac 15:29 was primarily intended for the churches of Syria and Cilicia, 15:23, Luke has nothing to say about Paul publishing it when he traveled through those provinces, 15:41. Luke does not mention it when speaking about Lycaonia, 16:4, but the terms of 15:19-21; 21:15 suggests that the decree was for all regions. All these difficulties may be explained by supposing that Luke has combined two distinct controversies and their varying solutions (Paul distinguishes them more clearly in Ga 2). One controversy was about the obligation of convert pagans to observe the Law, and Peter and Paul both took part, cf., Ga 2:1-10; the other  controversy, which took place later, was about the social relations between the groups of Christian converts, hose from Judaism and those from paganism, cf. Ga 2:11-14. In this James, in Peter’s absence, took the leading part. Any contact with pagans involved impurity for Jews; cf. Ac 15:20+; Footnote ^b says “In Ga 2:12, there are several of them and they came from James;” Footnote ^c says “Ga 2:1-3 mentions Titus who had pagan blood”;  Footnote^d says “The apostles, who are not mentioned either in 11:30 or in 2:18, are grouped here with the elders, cf. Ga 2:2-9, where Peter and John are grouped with James, ‘brother of the Lord’, as authorities in the Jerusalem church.” 

Parallel text of verse 1 is from Ac 21:21,25 that says: and they have heard that you instruct all Jews living among the pagans to break away from Moses,^h authorizing them not to circumcise their children or to follow customary practices (v. 21). The pagans who have become believers, as we wrote them when we told them our decisions, must abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from fornication^l (v. 25)” Footnote ^h says “Paul’s doctrine of faith as the one source of justification, cf. Rm 1:16+; 3:22+, did indeed lead to this, since it meant that the Mosaic Law no longer gave the Jews superiority over the gentile. But Paul’s purpose in expounding this principle was to leave converts from paganism free of Jewish observance, cf. Ga. 2:11f, not to dissuade devout Jews from it; and Footnote ^I says “Western Text ‘Of the pagans who have become believers they have nothing to say to you. For our part, we have sent our decisions, namely that they have no observance to practice but that of abstaining from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, and from fornication.”

Verse 22  says: Then the apostles and elders decided to choose delegates to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.  The whole church concurred with this. They  chose  Judas, known as Barsabbas,^w and Silas,^x  both leading men in the brotherhood. Footnote ^w says “Not mentioned either elsewhere, cf. 1:23”; Footnote ^x says “Silas, missionary companion of Paul, 15:40-18:5, is the same as the Silvanus mentioned in 1 Th 1:1; 2 Th 1:1; 2 Co 1:19; 1 P 5:12”.

Parallel texts are:

1.       Ac 15:40 - Before Paul left, he chose Silas to accompany him and was commended by the brothers to the grace of God.^aa  Footnote ^aa –says “Var. ‘the grace of the Lord’.”

2.       1 Th 1 - From Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the Church in Thessalonika which is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: wishing you grace and peace^a (v. 1) We always mention you in our prayers and  thank God for you all (v. 2) and constantly remember before our God and Father how you have shown your faith in action, worked for love and persevered through hope, in our Lord Jesus Christ (v. 3). We know, brothers, that God loves you, and that you have been chosen (v. 4),because we brought the Good News^b to you, it came to you not only as words, but as power and as the Holy Spirit and as utter conviction. And you observed the sort of life we lived when we were with you, which was for your instruction (v. 5),and you were led to become imitators of us, and of the Lord; and it was with joy from the holy Spirit that you tock to the gospel, in spite of the great opposition all round you, (v. 6). This has made you a great example to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia (v.7) since it was from you that the word of the Lord started to spread – and not only throughout Macedonia and Achaia, for the news of your faith in God has spread everywhere. We do not need to tell people about it (v.8):other tell us we started the work among you, how you broke with idolatry when you were converted to God and became servants of the real, living God (v. 9);and how you are now awaiting for Jesus, his Son, whom he raised from the dead, to come from heaven to save us from the retribution which is coming (v. 10). ^c Footnote ^a – says “Add ‘from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ’, cf. 2 Th 1:2.”; Footnote ^b  says “Var. ‘the Good News of God’, or ‘of our God’.”; and Footnote  ^c  says “Lit. ‘wrath’. Vv. 9-10 seem to give an extremely condensed summary of Paul’s characteristic ‘proclamation’. The two main elements of the Good News as preached by Paul were: his emphasis on monotheism, and the prominence he gives to the return of the risen Lord, cf. Rm 1:1-4, 20f; 1 Co 1:18,21; Ga 1:3f; 3:1; Ac 14:15-17; 17:21-31, etc.”

3.       2 Th 1:1 - From Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the Church in Thessalonica which is in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4.       1 P 5:12 - I write these few words to you through Silvanus, who is a faithful brother I know I can trust, to encourage you never to let go  this true grace of God to which I bear witness.

Verse 23 says: And gave them this letter to take with them: “The apostles and elders, your brothers, send greetings to the brothers of pagan birth in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia.  Parallel text is from Ac 16:4 that says:  As they visited one town after another, they passed on the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, with instructions to respect them.

Verse 24, 25 and 26 say:  We have heard that some of our members have disturbed you with their demands and have unsettled your minds. They acted without any authority from us; and so we have unanimously decided to elect delegates and to send them to you with Barnabas and Paul, men we highly respect, who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Parallel text of verse 24 says:

1.       Ac 15:1 -  ^aThen some men came down from Judaea^b and taught the brothers, ‘Unless you have yourself circumcised in the tradition of Moses you cannot be saved’. Footnote ^a says “The events of this chapter raise several difficulties: 1. Vv. 5-7a repeat vv. 1-2a as if the author, having two different accounts of how the controversy started, decided to give both as they stood. 2. V.6 gives the impresio9n that the community leaders held a private meeting, but vv. 12, 22, suggest the debate took place before the whole Christian assembly. 3. The meeting issues a decree about how Christian  converts from paganism must observe purity rites, and it entrusts this decree to Paul, vv. 22f; later, however ( in 21:25), James seems to assume that Paul was then being informed of this decree for the first time. Paul himself does not speak of the decree either in Ga 2:6 (speaking of the Jerusalem meeting) or in 1 Co 8-10; Rm 14 (discussing similar problems); 4. Through the decree of Ac 15:29 was primarily intended for the churches of Syria and Cilicia, 15:23, Luke has nothing to say about Paul publishing it when he traveled through those provinces, 15:41. Luke does not mention it when speaking about Lycaonia, 16:4, but the terms of 15:19-21; 21:15 suggests that the decree was for all regions. All these difficulties may be explained by supposing that Luke has combined two distinct controversies and their varying solutions (Paul distinguishes them more clearly in Ga 2). One controversy was about the obligation of convert pagans to observe the Law, and Peter and Paul both took part, cf., Ga 2:1-10; the other  controversy, which took place later, was about the social relations between the groups of Christian converts, hose from Judaism and those from paganism, cf. Ga 2:11-14. In this James, in Peter’s absence, took the leading part. Any contact with pagans involved impurity for Jews; cf. Ac 15:20+; Footnote ^b says “In Ga 2:12, there are several of them and they came from James.”

2.       Ga 2:12 - His custom had been to eat with the pagansⁱ but after certain friends of James arrived he stopped doing this and kept away from them altogether for fear of the group that insisted on circumcision. Footnote ⁱ says “Converts from paganism, so also in v. 14, as opposed to the ‘circumcised’ who are converted Jews”.

Verse 27 says: Accordingly we are sending Judas and Silas who will confirm by word of mouth what we have written in this letter:

Parallel text is from Ac 9:15-16 that says: The Lord replied, “You must go all the same because this man is my chosen instrument to bring  my name before pagans, pagan kings and before the people of Israel (v 15);^h I myself will show him how much he himself must suffer for my name (v. 16).” Footnote ^h says “Cf Jr 1:10. Paul’s mission is ‘to all men’, Ac 22:15, to the pagan nations, 26:17; this agrees with what Paul himself writes in Ga 1:16, cf Rm 1:5; 11:13; 15:16-18; Ga 2:2,8,9; Ep 3:8; Col 1:27; 1 Tm 2:7. On the ‘kings’, cf. Ac 26:2+.”

Verse 28 says: It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves not to saddle you with any burden beyond these essentials.

Parallel texts are:

1.       Ac 1:8 - But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,ⁱ and then you will be my witnesses^j not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judea and Samaria, and indeed to the ends of the earth’.^k Footnote ⁱ says “The Holy Spirit is a favorite theme of Luke (Lk 4:1+); he talks mostly about the Holy Spirit as a Power, Lk 1:35; 24:49;Ac 1:8;10:38; Rm 15:13,19; 1 Co 2:4,5; 1 Th 1:5; Heb 2:4, sent  from God by Christ, Ac 2:38, to broadcast the Good News. 1. The Spirit gives the charismata, 1 Co 12:4f, that guarantee the message; the gift of tongues, Ac 2:4+, of miracles, 10:38, of prophecy, 11:27+; 20:23; 21:11, of wisdom, 6:3,5,10:2, the Spirit fives strength to proclaim Jesus as Messiah in spite of persecution 4:8,31; 5:32; 6:10;cf. Ph 1;19 and to bear witness to him, Mt. 10;20p; Jn 15:26; Ac 1:8; 2 Tm 1:7f,cf. following note; 3. The Spirit guides the Church in her major decisions: the  admission of pagans, Ac 8:29,40; 10:19,44-47; 11;12-16; 15:8, without obligation to observe the  Law, 15:28; Paul’s mission to the pagan worlds, 13:2f; 16:6-7; 19:1 (Western Text) cf. Mt. 3:16+,Ac also mentions the Spirit  as received in baptism and forgiving sins, 2:38, cf. Rm 5:5+.’; Footnote ^j says “The primary functions of the apostles is to bear witness: not only to Christ’s resurrection, Lk. 24:48, Ac 2:32, 3:15, 4:33, 3:32, 24:48,13;31, 22:15, but also to the whole of is public life, Lk 1:21, Jn 15:27, Ac. 1:22, 10:39f.”; and Footnote ^k says “nothing can limit the apostolic mission”.

2.       Ac  5:32 - We are witnesses to this, we and the holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.’

Verse 29 says: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meat of strangled animals, and from fornication. Avoid these, and you will do what is right.^y Farewell.’” Footnote ^y says “Western Text adds ‘under the guide of the Holy Spirit’.”

Parallel text is from Ac 21:25 that says: The pagans who have become believers, as we wrote them when we told them our decisions, must abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from fornication^l (v. 25) Footnote ^l  says “Western Text ‘Of the pagans who have become believers they have nothing to say to you. For our part, we have sent our decisions, namely that they have no observance to practice but that of abstaining from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, and from fornication.’”

The Second Reading is from Rv 21:10-14, 22-23.

Verse 10 says: In the spirit he took me to the top of  an  enormous mountain and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven.^j Footnote ^j says “This is Jerusalem on earth during the last or messianic days since the pagan nations have not yet been destroyed, 21:24, and have a chance of conversion, 22:2; but it foreshadows the heavenly the heavenly Jerusalem that develops from it. The details of the description are most from Ezk 40-47.”

Parallel texts are:

1.       Ezk 40:2 - In a divine vision he took me away to the land of Israel,^c and put me down on a very high mountain, on the south of which there seemed to be built a city.^d  Footnote ^c says “‘took me… Israel’ Greek”; and Footnote ^d  says “Jerusalem evidently, through a Jerusalem expanded and idealized”.

2.       Heb 11:10 - He lived there in tents while he looked forward to the city founded, designed and built by God.

3.       Rv 21:2- I saw the holy city, and the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of the heaven, as beautiful as a bride all dressed for her husband^d  Footnote  ^d says “The new and joyful wedding of Jerusalem and her God has taken place, cf. Is 65:18; 61:10; 62:4-6; the Exodus ideal has at last been achieved, cf. Ho 2:16+.”

Verses 11, 12 and 13 say: It had all the radiant glory of God and glittered  like some precious jewel, diamond,  crystal clear. The walls of it were of a great height, with twelve gates; at each of the twelve gates there was an angel and over the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. On the east there were three gates on the north  three gates, on the south  three gates, and on the west three gates.

Parallel text for verse 11 is from Is 60:1-2 that says: Arise, shine out, for your light has come, the glory of Yahweh is rising on you,  (v. 1) though night still covers the earth and darkness the peoples. Above you Yahweh now rises and above you his glory appears.(v. 2).

Verses 14 and 22 say: The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones, each one of which bore the names of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. I saw there was no temple in the city,^m since the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb were themselves temple. Footnote  ^m says “The destruction of Jerusalem Temple symbolizes the end of the old covenant; there is now a new Temple, the Body of Christ, cf. Jh 2:19-21.”

Parallel text for verse 14 is from Ep 2:20 that says: You are part of a building that has the apostles and prophets,^s for its  foundations, and with Christ Jesus himself for its main cornerstone. Footnote  ^s says “The N.T. prophets, cf. 3:5; 4:11; Ac 11:27+, together with the apostles, are the witnesses to whom the divine plan was first revealed and who were the first to preach the Good News, cf. Lk 11:49; Mt 23:34; 10:41. This is why the Church as well as being founded on them.”

Verse 23 says: and the city did not need the sun or the moon for light, since it was lit by the radiant glory of God, and the Lamb was a lighted torch for it.

Parallel texts are:

1.       Is 60:1-2, 19-20 - Arise, shine out, for your light has come, the glory of Yahweh is rising on you,  (v. 1) though night still covers the earth and darkness the peoples. Above you Yahweh now rises and above you his glory appears. (v. 2).No more will the sun give you daylight, nor moonlight shine on you; but Yahweh will be your everlasting light, your God will be your splendor (v. 19) your sun will set no more nor your moon wane, but Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning will be ended (v. 20).

2.       2 Co 3:18 - And we, with our unveiled^d face reflecting like mirrors ^e the brightness of the Lord,^f all grow brighter and brighter as we are turned into the image^g that we reflect; this is the work of the Lord who is Spirit.  Footnote^d says “As that of Moses had been”: Footnote^e  says “Or ‘contemplating’; Footnote ^f says “The ‘brightness of the Lord’ is glory of Jesus, being ‘the glory on the face of Christ’, 4:6.”; and Footnote ^g says “The contemplation of God in Christ gives the Christian a likeness to God, Rm 8:29+, cf. 1 Jn 3:2”.

Jerusalem is the City of Peace. The Second Reading talks about the first Christian controversy in the first Christian church that disturbed the peace of the first Christians at Jerusalem.

Jerusalem, even today, is the center of contention for control between Palestinian Arabs and the state of Israel that peace is quite estranged in this city of Peace.

The Zionist Movement would like to restore the second temple that was destroyed by the Romans about the year 70 AD at Jerusalem. Is this happens, they believe that Israel’s take over will be complete and will bring back the peace in the New Jerusalem. What Christians believe is the peace of Christ that will take effect in the new Jerusalem that is heavenly-see Third Reading in Rev 21.

An article “Jerusalem: Center of Conflict, Center of Peace” by John Ross Schroeder at www.ucg.org says:

“Putting aside all the claims and counterclaims about the ownership of Jerusalem, what does the Bible say about this historic city? Who is its real owner, and what is its ultimate destiny? How will the city of almost continuous conflict become a city of enduring and everlasting peace? Let's examine the intriguing biblical story—past, present and future. Jerusalem has been synonymous with conflict, sieges, wars and battles almost from its very first mention in the Bible. It is now the capital of the state of Israel, whose very existence has been threatened by wars and conflicts with the surrounding nations. Today the Palestinians desperately want to take control of East Jerusalem—which includes the Temple Mount, the Western Wall and the old City of David.

Jerusalem is destined to become the glorious global capital city of peace and truth to which all countries on earth will look. Peace with justice will be administered to all peoples from Jerusalem…Yet these promises of God are absolutely sure! In faith the patriarch Abraham "waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews:11:10). The Creator is the divine architect of the New Jerusalem. All men and women of faith have envisioned the fulfillment of God's promises, "having seen them afar off" (verse 13). They know that God "has prepared a city for them" (verse 16).

In His message to one of the seven churches of Revelation, Jesus Christ referred to "the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven" (Revelation:3:12). Then the dwelling place of God will be with spirit-transformed men and women in a transformed world (Revelation:21:3). Death, sorrow, pain and suffering will have passed into history as the ultimate new world order takes shape on a brand-new earth (verses 4-5).

In summary, this is the true message of the enduring presence of Jerusalem in the world. In spite of today's terrible conflicts, it remains a city like no other, one with an awesome future that is unique. This is one reason Jerusalem is mentioned some 850 times in the Bible. It is the symbolic cornerstone of crucial prophetic messages promising permanent peace to all of mankind— forever.”