When my wife and I drive to Chicago to visit our son, his wife, and two of our grandchildren, there are three or four different routes that I can take to get there. But I almost always choose the same route each time, because I’m familiar with it and I’m comfortable with it, even though my GPS wants me to take a different way. You see, we can be creatures of habit. We do things sometimes without thinking about it. And when I make that familiar drive, sometimes I get to where I’m going and think later on, when did we pass the Ohio/Indiana border?
Sometimes the Mass we attend each week gets to be like that. While the Scripture readings and hopefully the homily change from week to week, much of the Liturgy is a ritual that we are very familiar with that we repeat week after week, and we may sometimes find ourselves participating without thinking about it. One of the prayers in the Mass that we pray each Sunday is the Creed, in which we profess our faith—our belief in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But we also profess our faith and belief in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. These are called the “Four Marks of the Church.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church says “This is the sole Church of Christ, which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic.” These four characters, inseparably linked with each other, indicate essential features of the Church and her mission (CCC 811). Do you ever wonder about that part of the Creed, and think about what it means to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic? Well, our readings today give us some insight into that.
The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles speaks of a meeting of the Apostles and presbyters to discuss a serious situation that could have easily divided the early Christians. Saint Paul, whom we know as the apostle to the Gentiles, and his companion Barnabas, taught that the Gentiles did not need to comply with the Jewish custom of circumcision in order to become a believer in Christ, while other Church leaders, known as the Judaizers, taught that they should. This is the reason the Church leaders met in Jerusalem: to discuss this very situation.
It might help to understand that the first Christians were Jewish converts, and they believed that being a Christian was the fulfillment of their Jewish faith. So if someone wanted to be a Christian, they had to become Jewish first, which meant observing all of the Jewish customs and practices, including circumcision. But Paul and Barnabas thought that the Gentiles should be welcomed into the community solely on their faith and acceptance of Jesus Christ and his teachings without having to undergo the Jewish rituals of circumcision and the Mosaic Law.
It is unfortunate for us that the discussion at this meeting is omitted in this reading; only the conclusion is given. But if you read the full account in the Acts of the Apostles (and I hope you will), you will find that there were fierce arguments and disagreements on the matter of following Jewish customs in order to become a Christian. But even though they were able to come to an agreement, a compromise, it was the Holy Spirit who was behind it.
The conclusion they come to resulted in compassion, openness, and common sense. They say in the letter sent with the other disciples, “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities.” They allowed the Holy Spirit to guide them in their decision, even though there was so much disagreement between them. It would have been easy for James, or Peter, or Paul and Barnabas to disagree with the conclusion and go off and start their own religious community—their own church if you will. But they didn’t; because “the Church is one because of her source in the unity, in the Trinity of Persons, of one God, the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit” (Cf. CCC 813).
The Church also is holy: she has her origin in the Holy Trinity, and that is the source of her holiness. The Holy Spirit, sent by the Father and the Son, works within the Church to keep her members faithful to the Gospel (Cf. CCC 823). Our Gospel passage shows us a situation where Jesus talks to his disciples and prepares them for a situation where they will find themselves alone. Jesus is going to go away, but he tells them that he will be back, that he will give them his Spirit.
He tells his disciples, “The Advocate will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have told you.” The word John uses in the Gospel, “Advocate,” refers to the Holy Spirit, and John has different meanings for him: teacher, consoler, supporter, and attorney. In this passage, the Advocate is a teacher, and it is in this role that we trust the Holy Spirit to preserve us as Christians from error and keep us closer to the mind of Jesus. As Jesus came in the Father’s name and spoke the Father’s words, the Holy Spirit comes in the name of Jesus and reinforces the teaching of Jesus. The Holy Spirit also gives us confidence, strength, and assurance that we can live in his peace and not be afraid.
Our Responsorial for this Sunday says “O God, let all the nations praise you!” Psalm 67 proclaims, “So may your way be known upon earth; among all nations, your salvation. May God bless us, and may all the ends of the earth fear him!”
And the Church is apostolic because she is founded on the apostles, those who were chosen and sent by Christ himself, and as the Catechism says, “continues to be taught, sanctified, and guided by the apostles until Christ’s return, through their successors: … the college of bishops, “assisted by priests, in union with the successor of Peter, the Church’s supreme pastor” (Cf. CCC 857). We were witnesses of this in a particular way with the election of Pope Leo XIV just a couple weeks ago.
In the second reading from the Book of Revelation, John has a vision of the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. The foundation for the walls of the city have the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb inscribed on them, signifying that the Church is built on them. This is an image from Jesus himself, who made Peter the Rock upon which the Church is built (Mt. 16:18). Paul also says in his letter to the Ephesians that the Church is “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets” (Eph 2:20). Jesus also makes this clear when he says that the apostles would “sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Mt 19:28).
All these marks of the Church are emphasized in the story of the council that we heard about in the first reading. Everybody, including Paul, looks to “Jerusalem [and] … the Apostles” to decide the Church’s true teaching. And we see the Spirit guiding the Apostles in all truth. This is why they describe their ruling by saying “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us.”
Knowing these truths about the Church, our hearts should never be troubled or afraid as Jesus tells his disciples in the Gospel. The Liturgy’s message today is that the Church is the Lord’s, watched over and guarded by the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father in the name of the Son.