Those other people

Today’s first reading (Acts 11:1-18) recounts a milestone in spread of the Gospel by the early Church: not just that the Gospel is spread successfully to non-Jews, but that this sharing of grace with non-Jews is accepted even by skeptical members of the Church.

It fits together well with what our Lord says in today’s Gospel (John 10:1-10):

I am the gate.
Whoever enters through me
will be saved,
and will come in and go out
and find pasture.

Our Lord becomes even more explicit shortly after this passage (verse 16):

I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
These also I must lead,
and they will hear my voice,
and there will be one flock, one shepherd.

It is well known that like-minded people tend to “flock” together. Even the age of mass communications and the World Wide Web has encouraged many people to isolate themselves, often unconsciously, within an increasingly narrow circle (even if the circle is geographically global).

This social and intellectual balkanization cannot stop the Gospel of Christ nor should we let ourselves be trapped by these walls.

That is not to say that we must compromise on the Truth, cast our pearls before swine, or neglect the encouragement of our brethren, but as Christians we must step up to the task given to us by Christ and help everyone we can to enter fully into his one flock so that we and they “might have life and have it more abundantly.”