WELCOMING ANYONE - A: Easter Sunday

First Reading: Acts 10:34, 37-43 (9 Apr 2023)

“This man God raised on the third day and granted to be visible, not to all the people, but to us, the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:40-42).

This is the address given by Peter to Cornelius when he came over to visit him in the latter’s house. Initially, Peter was hesitant in accepting him into the Jesus-movement primarily because he is a Roman centurion (vv. 1, 14, 19). Yet, the supernatural vision shown to him earlier by God concerning the descent of a net-full of animals of all sorts convinced him to welcome anyone, regardless of his/her status (vv. 9-16).

In baptizing Cornelius’s household (vv. 47-48), Peter was crossing several social barriers that might have surely offended his conservative Jewish members in the Jesus-movement.

These barriers are the following:

Crossing ethnic differences. In antiquity, the practice of cults and expressions of religious beliefs were normally attached to a particular locale or a social group of people. This explains why many pilgrimages and open-feasts were held in antiquity. Since temples were dedicated to deities with specific specialization (e.g., for harvest, for travel, for healing, etc.), they would attract travelers seeking the attainment of precise petitions. However, the worship that Jesus inaugurated in the Gospels would not be restricted to any ethnic association and sentiment. In fact, in Jn 4:23-24, Jesus told the Samaritan woman that a time would come when people worship God not on a particular mountain or among particular people, but in “spirit and truth”. Peter’s reception of a Roman in the person of Cornelius put to action these words of Jesus.

Crossing societal differences. Cornelius belonged to an affluent family, indicative in the presence of slaves and his capacity to give alms regularly (Acts 10:2, 5, 7). So far, most of the followers of Jesus were economically poor (cf. Mt 5:3; Lk 6:20) and/or living a poor economic condition, given that they committed to a communistic lifestyle in which they held material possessions in common (cf. Acts 2:44-45). This measure is based on the radical commandment of Christ to leave everything behind in following him, including all wealth and properties (cf. Mt 19:21). With his decision to relate equally with a rich officer, Peter disregarded the socio-economic barrier that society built between them, accepting anyone from all walks of life.

Crossing territorial differences. Cornelius inhabited the area of Caesarea Maritima, which during that time was a city with a population from mixed provenance. The presence of Roman soldiers in this city signify that this Palestinian territory was under the direct control of the Roman empire (Acts 10:1). Jesus is presented by the Gospels as an itinerant missionary who traveled to various areas of Palestine including those renowned as Gentile regions (e.g., Gerasene country in Mk 5:1). In the onset, Peter reiterated to Cornelius the rule of non-mixture with non-Jews: “You yourselves know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile” (Acts 10:28). But by the fact that he left Joppa to proceed there (v. 23), Peter already expanded his missionary horizon, hinting at the potential reception of non-Jews into their circle.

The commemoration today of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus in many parts of the globe denotes that the message spread by his disciples is a call for a universal confession of faith in Jesus.

As Jesus suffered, died, and rose from the dead for all, let our Easter proclamation be a strong commitment to continue to cross ethnic, societal, and territorial differences among us.

- Rex Fortes, CM