UNIVERSAL MESSAGE OF PEACE - C: Easter Sunday

First Reading: Acts 10:34, 37-43 (17 April 2022)

“He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:42).

These are the words of Peter to Cornelius, explaining to him why he was narrating everything that transpired about Jesus (vv. 36-43). Peter reasoned that it was because of the mandate given to him and his companions to preach about him when the resurrected Jesus had dined with them (v. 41). It should be remembered that at this point, the disciples had only extended the missions to the Samaritans (Acts 8), beginning with Philip’s preaching (v. 5) and baptismal ministry in Samaria (v. 12), followed by Peter and John’s laying of hands on the newly baptized Samaritans (v. 17). Meanwhile, even if Samaritans are generally considered to be non-Jews (cf. Jn 4:9), they still maintained some affinity with the Jews for believing in the same patriarchs (v. 12), worshipping the same God (v. 20), and expecting the same coming of a messiah (v. 25). In sum, the Samaritans are still partially related to the Jews, despite belonging to another ethnicity.

However, what is interesting in our reading today is the opening of the missions to those completely outside the Jewish societal community. Cornelius is described in Acts 10:1 to be “a centurion of the Italian Cohort”. Accordingly, he is non-Jewish by his territorial provenance (i.e., from Italian lands) and the nature of his occupation (i.e., as an official of a hundred Roman soldiers) in Caesarea Maritima (i.e., a port area for the Roman legions). Yet, even if he and his household are non-Jews, they were fearful of God, helpful of people, and prayed constantly (v. 2).

God highly favored Cornelius, indicative in an angel’s appearance to him (v. 3), setting up a meeting with Peter that would lead to their incorporation into the Jesus-movement (vv. 5-8).

Peter was hesitant at first to receive the Roman Cornelius for obvious reasons. This is evident in his resistance to eat the acclaimed polluted animals in a related vision (vv. 9-16) he had before learning of the invitation of Cornelius. But he was won over by the accompanying words of the vision, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane” (v. 15). For Peter, this remark implies that he must accept as well non-Jews even if they do not observe the Mosaic traditions, which he realized during the subsequent coming of Cornelius’s delegates (v. 22). Soon, in Peter’s own visit and preaching to the centurion’s household, “the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word” (v. 44), leading them to speak in tongues and extol God (v. 46). Peter, in effect, baptized all these non-Jewish people in the name of Jesus Christ (v. 48).

What is revelatory in the joyful encounter between Peter and Cornelius in Acts is the call for a universal brotherhood/sisterhood in our local communities. Despite belonging to separate genealogical, territorial, religious, and socio-political groups, both characters embraced the other in a spiritual fellowship in the name of Jesus. Similarly, the resurrection of Jesus also enjoins each of us to remove socio-political barriers that prevent every sector from relating harmoniously to others.

Amid our present global crisis where many are divided because of racial discrimination and even systemic genocide, let us pray and work for the realization of more peaceful dialogues and compassionate encounters between warring nations and leaders.

- Rex Fortes, CM