Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 22, 2011

(Acts 6:1-7; 1 Peter 2:4-9; John 14:1-12)

Factions within the church developed early on as Acts demonstrates in today’s

first reading. The “Hellenist/ Hebrew widow” controversy involved an important
sociological issue in the early church. Widows and orphans have always been
among the poorest of society’s poor in every age including the biblical period.
In fact, in one of the earliest codes of law from ancient societies, the Code of
Hammurabi from the seventeenth century BC lists specific laws to protect the
widow and the orphan from the more grievous examples of exploitation.
In the Hebrew code of inheritance law (Law of Moses) it may be surprising to
learn that the widow and orphan had little to no protection. But the Prophets issued
strong condemnations against those who mistreated or abused the widow and the
orphan (e.g. Malachi 3:5).
As far as we can tell all of “the Twelve” were Galileans, and thus, Hebrews.
Converts to Judaism and or Christianity from outside the Holy Land were called
Hellenists. When food and other necessities were being distributed, Hellenists were
complaining about being short-changed which led to the present row.
There remains a debate about whether Hellenists were meant to be understood
as Gentile Christians or as those who spoke only Greek. In contrast were the
Hebrews who may have been the Aramaic speaking residents of Jerusalem or that
sect of early Christians who retained their Jewish traditions.
One more suggestion is that Hellenists meant Jews or Jewish Christians who
spoke only Greek as opposed to Jews and Jewish Christians who spoke only
Aramaic and/or Hebrew. Thus we see how language becomes a major source of
division in the Church. And so we are reminded of Ecclesiastes 1:9: “What has
been, that will be…nothing is new under the sun.”
The Twelve claim prior importance for prayer and the ministry of the word.
So they appoint the Seven to serve at table when the widows and orphans were
served. By the time of Ignatius of Antioch in the early second century AD, those
performing that ministry were called “deacons.” Prayer and the laying on of hands
became a widely used ritual for conveying ecclesiastical authority and remains so
today.
The Gospel is familiar to us from its frequent use at funerals. It comes from
the farewell speech of Jesus to the disciples at the Last Supper and is a reminder to
Christians of every age that Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life.” That
concept alone defines our relationship with the Father, which necessarily comes
through the Son.
 It means ultimately we do not come to the Father through nature or through
nature’s objects, but only through the Father’s Son. How that happens remains
buried in the mystery of this relationship. To try to define this concept is to place
limits on what really is divine truth. It should not be used as some kind of Christian
apologetic to justify brow-beating others into submission. It is rather part of the
mystery of how God as Father accomplishes all through the Son, who is the way to
the Father, who is the content of all truth and who possesses life in its fullness.
Far too many use these words to emphasize the exclusivity of Christian faith
instead of seeing in these words its inclusivity. It leaves to the Father the how, and
the when, and the what of salvation. It is not necessary that we understand the
process of how one comes to the Father through the Son. Nor can we in any way
limit or define how the Father brings it about. We simply believe that the Father
will do this work.

Fr. Lawrence L. Hummer