Readings:
Acts 6:1-7
Psalm 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19
1 Peter 2:4-9
John 14:1-12

The selection from the First Letter of Peter paints a very inspiring and attractive vision and call to “be built into a spiritual house” (2: 5), and “You are ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own. . . ‘” (2:9).  These latter words that had been addressed to Israel (Isa 43:20; Exod 19:6; Deut 7:6-9), now are applied to a community of both Jewish and Gentile disciples of Christ. What a beautiful image in this epistle that was probably originally part of a baptismal homily! However, living it out in practice is another matter.

We see this in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles.  While the earlier chapters of Acts describe the early community of the Jesus movement as living in an idyllic state of perfect love and harmony, in chapter 6 we see the first signs of internal tension around the issue of cultural and social diversity. However, the diversity is not between Jews and Gentiles, but between the “Hellenists” Jewish-Christians and the “Hebrews” Jewish-Christians. The “Hebrews” were born in Palestine and spoke Aramaic, while the “Hellenists” lived in the diaspora Jewish communities around the Roman Empire and had Greek as their primary language, the official language of the Empire at the time. The dispute arose around the unequal daily distribution to the “Hellenist” widows, in favor of the “Hebrew” ones. The issue centers around diakonia, “ministry,” most likely in terms of food distribution. New Testament scholar Barbara Reid proposes that this also refers to the Greek-speaking widows being overlooked in the assignment of ministries.^[1]

To their credit, the community addressed this internal community dispute around “daily distribution” by appointing seven men, who were all “Hellenists” Jewish-Christians, as ministers of diakonia. It is also relevant to note that “When intercultural sensitivity and respect are considered in a decision-making process, that solution is much more acceptable and is more likely to be successful.”^[2] This diakonia ministry, now often linked to the eventual ministry of deacons, did not apply only to attending to the “table” but at least two of the seven, Stephen and Philip, were also preachers and evangelists (Philip in Acts 21:8).

In looking deeper and further at the question of diversity, the distinctions between the “Hebrews” and the “Hellenists” were not only in terms of language, culture, and social location, but also in terms of theology. In the following chapter of Acts, Stephen in his speech (Acts 7:1-51) points to a movement beyond traditional Jewish theology, to one centered on Christ, the Redeemer. The issue of theological diversity is certainly a challenge for the Catholic Church today. Furthermore, Stephen’s speech “is the first intimation that the Way is a discrete religious system, intimately connected to and yet—because of the centrality of Jesus—distinctly separate from its Jewish roots.”^[3]

Let us now turn to the gospel reading of John today. Like the early disciples, we need to face the challenge of addressing diversity of all kinds in the church (and outside the church) today. We are invited to receive Jesus’ words of assurance: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me” (Jn 14:1). In the events of Acts described above, the early followers of the “Way” acknowledged and depended upon God’s grace for their discernment process. Jesus declared, “I am the way, the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6). In our moments of worry and doubt, Jesus promised to accompany us with the grace needed (cf. Jn 14:13-14).

Roger Schroeder, SVD
Louis J. Luzbetak, SVD Chair of Mission and Culture

^[1] Barbara E. Reid, “The Power of the Widows and How to Suppress It (Acts 6:1-7)” in: A Feminist Companion to the Acts of the Apostles, edited by Amy-Jill Levine with Marianne Blickenstaff, 71-88 (London: t&t clark, 2004).

^[2] vanThanh Nguyen, SVD, “Acts,” The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century, Third Fully Revised Edition, edited by Collins, Hens-Piazza, Reid, and Senior (London: t&t clark, 2022),1472.

^[3] Stephen B. Bevans and Roger P. Schroeder, Constants in Context: A Theology of Mission for Today (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2004), 19.