May 20, 2022

Acts 15:22-31

Then the apostles and the elders, with the consent of the whole church, decided to choose men from among their members and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers, with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the believers of Gentile origin in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. 

Since we have heard that certain persons who have gone out from us, though with no instructions from us, have said things to disturb you and have unsettled your minds, we have decided unanimously to choose representatives and send them to you, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” 

So they were sent off and went down to Antioch. When they gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. When its members read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation.

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

Growing in Faith

Early Christian communities faced unexpected challenges. Members taught things contrary to the apostles’ original understanding. Even at that early stage of the church’s development, the spread of God’s word encountered difficulties. Was it supposed to happen this way? The leaders had to make choices regarding the best way to survive and decisions as to what was authentic and what was contrary to the Spirit.  

We also must make the best choices we can to enable faith to grow. There was nothing magical about the way the Holy Spirit worked to spread the news of Jesus. Difficult decisions grounded in genuine prayer and efforts blessed by the Spirit enabled growth in faith to occur. It still happens today. Deepening my relationship with God asks for prayer, thoughtful discernment and commitment. Somehow, the relentlessness of God’s message of love perseveres.  

—Joseph Lagan is the director of the Ignatian Spirituality Program of Denver. 

Prayer 

Pray as if everything depends on God. Act as if everything depends on you.

—Often attributed to St. Augustine