REFLECTION/HOMILY FOR 6TH SUNDAY OF EASTER – YEAR B

REFLECTION/HOMILY FOR 6TH SUNDAY OF EASTER – YEAR B

HOMILY THEME: OVERCOMING PREJUDICE

BY: Fr Andrew Ekpenyong

1. Comic Irony. Jane Austen’s novel, Pride & Prejudice, is one of the most popular novels in English literature, worldwide, translated into over 40 languages. It was voted as America’s #4 best-loved novel in “The Great American Read” poll. The 1st sentence in “Pride & Prejudice” is a nice example of comic irony. She wrote, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” The irony is that in Jane Austen’s day, it was the women who were compelled to want a husband in possession of a good fortune, because unfortunately, women in 19th century England could not normally inherit the wealth of their family. Thanks be to God, many societies around the world are overcoming these prejudices against women. Likewise, in today’s 1st reading (Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48), there is a great comic irony, in which Peter, the first Pope, is cleansed of his prejudice in the house of a pagan, a Gentile, Cornelius. Peter stated it: “You know that it is unlawful for a Jewish man to associate with, or visit, a Gentile, but God has shown me that I should not call any person profane or unclean” (Acts 10:28). In fact, the episode seems to be more a purification of Peter, than the conversion of Cornelius.

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2. Realization and Confession. Peter had a moment of realization, a moment of amazing grace, when he overcame his acquired prejudice, when he saw Cornelius not based on stereotypes, and then proceeded to speak of his profound experience: “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.” Acts 10:34-35. Last time we had this reading on a Sunday (9th May 2021), I confessed a prejudice I had while studying in the UK. Let me now confess another instance. It happened 9 years ago here in Omaha. I and a friend, who attends daily Mass here, decided to do our Rosary walk in the Old Market area of Downtown, 1.5 miles from here. At the end of the Rosary, we went into a Coffee shop on Jackson Street. But the waiters and waitresses were busy rearranging seats. One of them smiled at us and said: “Oh, sorry, we usually close early today because we have Bible study at 9 pm. You are welcome to join us”. I was frozen in pleasant surprise. The veil fell from my eyes. I did not expect Bible study inside a Coffee shop in a busy American city! I realized that God has people seeking Him in so many beautiful ways all over the world. Like St Peter, I was “evangelized” anew.

3. Overcoming Prejudice. Dear Sisters and Brothers, prejudice can be very hard to recognize and overcome. God helped Peter. Please read the entire episode in Acts 10:1-49. Here is a summary. 1. Cornelius, a Roman Centurion who was God-fearing, gave alms and prayed to God constantly, had a vision in which an Angel asked him to send some men to get Simon Peter to his house (Acts 10:1-8). 2. As messengers from Cornelius were on their way, God showed Peter a vision, in which all manner of beasts were being lowered from Heaven in a sheet. A voice commanded Peter to eat. He objected saying that those were unclean based on Mosaic Law. The voice told Peter not to call unclean that which God has cleansed. This happened thrice and the vision enabled Peter to get to Cornelius’ house. (Acts 10:10–16). 3. The encounter between Peter and Cornelius, is what we heard in today’s 1st reading. 4. While Peter was still speaking, Gentiles were filled with the Holy Spirit in the presence of Jewish Christians. That was when Peter asked: “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit even as we have?” Notice what it took God to make Peter and the Jewish Christians to baptize Gentiles. I mean, Peter saw all the miracles that Christ did for both Jews and Gentiles. Peter listened to the teachings and parables of Christ about the Good Samaritan, the Syro-Phoenician woman, etc. In fact, at Mass, we borrow the words of someone who was like Cornelius, a Centurion, and a God-fearing man, about whom our Lord had said: “I tell you; I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” (Lk 7:9). The words are: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed”. The more we overcome bias and prejudice, the more we love one another as Christ loved us, which is not only the message of today’s Gospel reading (Jn 15:9-17) and 2nd reading (1 Jn 4:7-10), but also a summary of the entire Christian message. Like conversion itself, overcoming prejudice is a life-long process. God helps us in that process with moments of amazing grace, after which, like Peter, we become more afire with love for God and humanity. Teilhard de Chardin SJ, wrote: “Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for the second time in the history of the world, man will discover fire.” And I add: the fire of Divine Love!

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