May 8, 2017 – Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter

What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.
 
In Peter’s time, who you ate with and what you ate were matters of faith. Observant Jews were careful not to break the Kosher laws, as Peter refers to. The vision breaks that model apart, saying everything is clean. But the vision isn’t about food, it’s about who belongs to God and who should belong in our hearts.
God has created all of us and claimed us as his own. He has called us all “clean.” The line above calls us to respect everyone’s dignity, and accept them at our tables as they are. Peter and the disciples worked that out at the first council of the Church: I’m not sure we have. We aren’t just talking about building a wall today, we’ve been doing it for years. Being Christian is about sharing Christ with all, not about conforming to a particular rule or regulation about who’s welcome and who’s not. When we consider who we are, and who belongs to us, Christ has a simple answer: everyone belongs to Him.
 
Rev. Keith Branson, C.PP.S.
Kansas City Province