So Peter tells the story again—how the Spirit moved, how God made it clear that no one is unclean, how the same Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles just as it had upon them. And then he asks a disarming question: “Who was I to hinder God?”
That question is the turning point. Because the issue was never really about food laws or customs, it was about whether God’s grace could break through human categories.
And yet, even in this early, Spirit-filled Church, we see something very familiar: division, suspicion, and resistance to change. The followers of Christ were not instantly free from the prejudices of their culture. They struggled, just as any community does, to live out what they professed.
In the Gospel, we hear Jesus says: “I am the good shepherd… I know my sheep and mine know me.”
Jesus doesn’t describe a divided flock, He speaks of one flock, gathered by His voice, united in Him.
And that leads us to the uncomfortable but necessary question: Are we any different today?
We would like to say yes. But the truth is more complicated.
We still draw lines. They may not be between Jew and Gentile, but they exist—between races, political identities, social classes, lifestyles, even within the Church itself. We still sometimes decide, quietly or openly, who “belongs” and who does not.
Peter shows us another way. He doesn’t cling to his comfort zone. He listens, he reflects, and ultimately, he allows himself to be changed. He recognizes God at work beyond the boundaries he once assumed were fixed.
That is the real conversion in today’s reading—not just the conversion of the Gentiles, but the conversion of Peter.
The Good Shepherd is still calling. Still gathering. Still breaking down walls. The question is not whether God is willing to include, it is whether we are willing to follow.
And if we cannot, then the work of Easter is not yet finished in us.
Have a wonderful Week
