Fifth Sunday after Pascha – Sunday of the Samaritan Woman. Our Venerable Father Pachomius the Great (346)
Acts 11:19-26, 29-30; John 4:5-42
Read Acts 11:19-26, 29-30
Christ is risen! Truly, He is risen!
Today’s reading is a big step toward the “end of the earth” part of Christ’s declaration that the apostles would, “receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samar′ia and to the end of the earth.” Jerusalem was not a major city in the Roman Empire; Antioch was. More importantly, the people who were preached to and converted there were not only Jews or Gentile converts to Judaism, but also pagan Gentiles. The significance of this is highlighted by the apostolic response: they sent Barnabas to investigate. This was hot on the heels of St. Peter’s silencing of those who insisted that Gentiles become Jews first and then observe the Christian faith as Jewish Christians. Peter himself had only recently had this revealed to him and silencing does not mean agreement.
Notice that, in confirming the validity of the Gentile conversions, Barnabas is described as “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.” Notice that, once again in Acts, human cooperation with the grace of God in a context of possible human division results in spiritual unity further resulting in a “a large company of people” being converted and catechized. Notice the charity of the Gentile Christians toward the Jewish Christians.
If you find yourself in confusing relationship situations brought on by the possibility of human division within the Church, pray to discern the way of Christian unity around apostolic teaching – that is always the direction in which the “the wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”