25 May 2025 #maranatha
Today’s first reading reveals conflict in defining orthodoxy (right belief) and orthopraxy (right practice) in the early Church. Imagine that. Since Jesus was a circumcised Jewish male, Gentile men in the earliest years were required to undergo circumcision. Before the term “Christian” emerged in Antioch, Jesus’ followers were simply called “followers of The Way.” The prevailing view was that, since the Old Testament required circumcision as part of God’s covenant, and Jesus and His first disciples were predominantly Jewish, Gentile converts should enter Judaism through circumcision while following The Way. This seemed reasonable but was met with trepidation by adult male converts.
Understandably so.
The early Church leaders grappled with defining what was valid and what was not. This struggle has been a constant throughout Church history. Receiving Holy Communion in the hand was common for the first 800 years (see texts by Cyril of Jerusalem and Theodore of Mopsuestia) until it wasn’t—and now it is again. Before the mid-fourth century, women served in certain Church roles as diakonoi or diakonissai (deaconesses) until that practice ceased. Before the Second Lateran Council of 1139 prohibited clerical marriage, most priests were married, a practice that persists in some Christian traditions.
Marriage was formally declared a sacrament at the Council of Verona in 1184, though St. Augustine spoke of its sacramental nature around 400 AD. Many changes followed Vatican II: Mass in the vernacular, priests facing the congregation, and altar servers no longer limited to males. The Church is like a structure under constant construction.
Please don’t shoot the messenger!
As you might expect, many were disappointed by changes in orthodoxy and orthopraxy, whenever they occurred. I share this with deep love for our current practices, but I’m also a “change-embracer.” I have profound hope and faith in the Holy Spirit and am open to whatever He desires for my life, the Church, and the world. God the Father and God the Son sent the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity (the Advocate), to transform the insular community of Judaism into the expansive world of Christianity. Amid that turmoil and chaos, how does Jesus guide us in today’s Gospel? With peace—a message echoed by our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, who began his pontificate with a call for peace.
Imagine that.
I cannot predict what the Church’s orthodoxy and orthopraxy will look like in 500 years (if Jesus hasn’t returned by then), just as early Christians couldn’t foresee Catholicism today. Jesus tells us not to worry or fear the future but to stay attuned to the Holy Spirit. He has everything under control—truly, all of it. Come, Holy Spirit, come.
#maranatha