Word to the Wise
Wednesday, May 1, 2024 - 5th Week of Easter - Wed
[Acts 15:1-6 and John 15:1-8]Some who had come down from Judea were instructing the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved." Because there arose no little dissension and debate by Paul and Barnabus with them, it was decided that Paul, Barnabus, and some of the others should go up to Jerusalem to the Apostles and presbyters about this question. [Acts]
History, so it is said, has a way of repeating itself. The passage from the Acts of the Apostles provides us with a pivotal moment in the history of Christianity. The question concerned the place of the Mosaic Law in Christian faith. The first hearers of the gospel were unquestionably Jews who regarded the Mosaic Law as an expression of God's will. One could not be a Jew and not believe this. But what if non-Jews accepted the gospel and believed in Jesus? Why should the gospel depend on the Mosaic Law? Paul and Barnabus, and eventually Peter, realized that a whole new way of understanding had to take place if the gospel was to be preached to the world. The result was the "Council of Jerusalem" in which a decision was reached that only certain things would be required - no meat from strangled animals and no food that had been a part of pagan worship. Even these eventually disappeared.
It has often seemed to me that the debates following the Second Vatican Council liturgical reforms, as well as a whole "new" understanding of the nature of the Church, reflect this same dynamic. There are some who believe that the Council of Trent and its reforms (ironically) are to be the guiding rule of faith and practice and that the changes introduced by Vatican II are to be subjected to Tridentine concepts and practices. The debate is framed in terms of continuity versus innovation There is some irony in this because the Vatican Council reforms go back to "tradition" that ante-dates the medieval customs that developed after the collapse of the Roman empire!!
No doubt, the debate will continue, especially under Pope Francis who has pursued a path of implementing Vatican II that more Tridentine-oriented Catholics find alarming. The Holy Spirit has to work overtime! What is our Tradition? [Capital T) And how is it to be distinguished from human traditions (smaller case "t")? AMEN