The Same Gift

The Same Gift

April 22, 2013

Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter

As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them as it had upon us at the beginning, and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water
but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’  If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?”  When they heard this, they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying, “God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.”  Acts 11:15-19

But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.  The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.   John 10:2-3

Piety

Father, let us hear your voice and follow you.

Study

For the church to grow, Simon Peter recognizes that the doors must be open for all who hear the voice of the Lord -- Jews or Gentile.  After this, the disciples spread out throughout the region bringing in Egyptians, Greeks, Spanish, Romans and more into the church.

Today, our church is everywhere.  From Ghana to Greece, from Mexico to Muncie, IN.  From Boston to Belgium.  Our bishops continue to call for common sense immigration policies that recognize the dignity of all and practice the kind of hospitality that the Lord requires of us.

Action

Look up and read the document "Welcoming the Stranger Among Us" by the USCCB to see and realize how the spirit of Paul to welcome the stranger continues today in the Church. The Catholic Church affirms the gifts and contributions that new comer immigrants, refugees and people on the move offer and she encourages them to fuller participation in the evangelizing mission of the Church.

"The Church of the twenty-first century will be, as it has always been, a Church of many cultures, languages and traditions, yet simultaneously one, as God is one—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—unity in diversity." — Welcoming the Stranger Among Us: Unity In Diversity.