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From: Acts 11:1-18

In Jerusalem Peter Justifies His Conduct

[1] Now the Apostles and the brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles
also had received the word of God. [2] So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the
circumcision party criticized him, [3] saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised
men and eat with them?” [4] But Peter began and explained to them in order: [5]
“I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, something des-
cending, like a great sheet, let down from Heaven by four corners; and it came
down to me. [6] Looking at it closely I observed animals and beasts of prey and
reptiles and birds of the air. [7] And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter;
kill and eat.’ [8] But I said, ‘No, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever en-
tered my mouth.’ [9] But the voice answered a second time from Heaven, ‘What
God has cleansed you must not call common.’ [10] This happened three times,
and all was drawn up again into Heaven. [11] And that very moment three men
arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. [12] And the
Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brethren also
accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. [13] And he told us how he
had seen an angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and bring
Simon called Peter; [14] he will declare to you a message by which you will be
saved, you and all your household.’ [15] As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell
on them just as on us at the beginning. [16] And I remembered the word of the
Lord, how He said, ‘John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the
Holy Spirit.’ [17] If then God gave the same gift to them as He gave to us when
we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?”
[18] When they heard this they were silenced. And they glorified God, saying,
“Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance unto life.”

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Commentary:

1-18. Some members of the Jerusalem community are shocked to learn that Pe-
ter has eaten with people who are legally unclean and has allowed them to be
baptized without first being circumcised.

“The circumcision party” refers, therefore, to those Christians who are scanda-
lized by the Gospel’s attitude to the ritual prohibitions and ethnic exclusiveness
of the Mosaic Law.

The Apostle’s address has a positive effect and sets their mind at ease. This atti-
tude of the disciples, who are interested only in the will of God and the spread of
the Gospel, shows how ready they are to accept instruction: their initial reserve
was quite conscientious. Peter once again describes the vision he received (10:
9-23), to show that if he had not baptized Cornelius he would have been disobe-
ying God.

This account of the vision differs slightly from his earlier one, the main addition
being in verses 15-16, which connect the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost
(2:1ff) with His descent on the Gentile converts at Caesarea (10:44).

Unfortunately the stubborn Judaizing tendencies exhibited by some members of
the infant Church took a long time to disappear, as is dramatically borne out in
some of St. Paul’s letters: he refers to “false brethren secretly brought in, who
slipped in to spy on our freedom which we have in Jesus Christ, that they might
bring us into bondage” (Galatians 2:4) and warns Christians to be on their guard
against fanatics of the Law of Moses who are self-serving and “want to pervert
the Gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:7).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: John 10:11-18

The Good Shepherd (Continuation)

[11] “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
[12] He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees
the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and
scatters them. [13] He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the
sheep. [14] I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, [15]
as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for My
sheep. [16] And I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them al-
so, and they will heed My voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd. [17]
For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life, that I may take
it again. [18] No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have
power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again; this charge I have received
from My Father.”

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Commentary:

11-15. “The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep”: “Here”, says St.
John Chrysostom, “He is speaking of His passion, making it clear this would
take place for the salvation of the world and that He would go to it freely and
willingly” (”Hom. on St. John”, 59, 3). Our Lord spoke further about giving abun-
dant pasture; now He speaks about giving His very life: “He did what He said He
would do”, St. Gregory comments; “He gave His life for His sheep, and He gave
His body and blood in the Sacrament to nourish with His flesh the sheep He had
redeemed” (”In Evangelia Homilae”, 14, “ad loc.”). Hired men, on the other hand,
run away if there is any danger, leaving the flock at risk. “Who is the hireling?
He who sees the wolf coming and flees. The man who seeks his own glory, not
the glory of Christ; the man who does not dare reprove sinners. You are the hire-
ling; you have seen the wolf coming and have fled [...] because you held your
peace; and you held your peace, because you were afraid” (St. Augustine, “In
Ioann Evang.”, 46, 8).

“Let them remember that their priestly ministry [...] is—in a special way—’ordered’
to the great solicitude of the Good Shepherd, solicitude for the salvation of every
human being. And this we must all remember: that it is not lawful for any one of
us to deserve the name of ‘hireling’, that is to say, the name of one ‘to whom the
sheep do not belong’, one who, ‘since he is not the shepherd and the sheep do
not belong to him, abandons the sheep and runs away as soon as he sees the
wolf coming, and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep; this is because
he is only a hired man and has no concern for the sheep.’ The solicitude of every
good shepherd is that all people ‘may have life and have it to the full’, so that none
of them may be lost but should have eternal life. Let us endeavor to make this so-
licitude penetrate deeply into our souls; let us strive to live it. May it characterize
our personality, and be at the foundation of our priestly identity” (Bl. John Paul II,
“Letter to Priests”, 8 April 1979).

The Good Shepherd knows each of His sheep and calls it by name. This touching
simile seems to be an exhortation to future pastors of the Church, as St. Peter
will later on explain: “Tend the flock that is your charge, not for shameful gain but
eagerly, not as domineering over those in your charge but being examples to the
flock” (1 Peter 5:2).

“The holiness of Christ’s Spouse has always been shown — as it can be seen to-
day —by the abundance of good shepherds. But our Christian faith, which teaches
us to be simple, does not bid us to be simple-minded. There are hirelings who
keep silent, and there are hirelings who speak with words which are not those of
Christ. That is why, if the Lord allows us to be left in the dark even in little things,
if we feel that our faith is not firm, we should go to the good shepherd. He enters
by the door as of right. He gives his life for others and wants to be in word and be-
havior a soul in love. He may be a sinner too, but he trusts always in Christ’s for-
giveness and mercy” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 34).

16. “One flock, one shepherd”: Christ’s mission extends to everyone even though
His own preaching is addressed, in the first instance, to the sheep of the house
of Israel, as He Himself revealed to the Canaanite woman (cf. Matthew 15:24),
and even though He sent the Apostles on their first mission (cf. Matthew 10:6) to
preach to the people of Israel. Now, however, foreseeing the fruits of His redemp-
tive death (verse 15), He reveals that these will be applied to “other sheep, that
are not of this fold”, that is, Israel, and, after the Resurrection, He does send the
Apostles to all nations (cf. Matthew 28:19), to preach the Gospel to all creation
(cf. Matthew 16:15), beginning in Jerusalem and extending to all Judea, Samaria
and the ends of the earth (cf. Acts 1:8). This fulfills the ancient promises about
the rule of the Messiah covering the whole world (cf. Psalm 2:7; Isaiah 2:2-6; 66:
17-19). The universal scope of salvation caused St. Paul to exclaim: “Remember
that at one time you...were...separated from Christ, alienated from the common-
wealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and
without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have
been brought near in the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:11-13; cf. Galatians 3:27-
28; Romans 3:22).

The unity of the Church is to be found under one visible head, for “it was to the
Apostolic College alone, of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord
entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the
one body of Christ into which all those should be fully incorporated who belong in
any way to the people of God” (Vatican II, “Unitatis Redintegratio”, 3). It is a Ca-
tholic’s constant yearning that everyone should come to the true Church, “God’s
one flock, which like a standard lifted high for the nations to see, ministers the
Gospel of peace to all mankind, as it makes it pilgrim way in hope towards its
goal,the fatherland above” (”ibid.”, 2).

17-18. Jesus shows that of His own free will He will give Himself up to death for
the sake of the flock (cf. John 6:51). Having been given supreme authority, Christ
is free to offer Himself as a sacrifice of expiation, and He voluntarily accepts His
Father’s commandment, in an act of perfect obedience. “We will never fully under-
stand Jesus’ freedom. It is immense, infinite, as is His love. But the priceless trea-
sure of His generous holocaust should move us to ask, ‘Why, Lord, have you gran-
ted me this privilege which I can use to follow in Your footsteps, but also to offend
You?’ Thus we come to appreciate that freedom is used properly when it is direc-
ted towards the good; and that it is misused when men are forgetful and turn a-
way from the Love of loves” (St. J. Escriva, “Friends of God”, 26).

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.