VATICAN - Benedict XVI continues with his catechesis on Saint Paul: “With the distinct charisms entrusted to Peter and Paul, let us all be guided by the Spirit, trying to live in the liberty that finds its orientation in faith in Christ and is made tangible in service to our brothers.”

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – “Today, we wish to pause on two episodes that show this veneration, and at the same time, the freedom with which the Apostle addressed Cephas and the other apostles: the so-called Council of Jerusalem and the incident in Antioch of Syria, related in the Letter to the Galatians.” These were the words of the Holy Father Benedict XVI in announcing the topic for his catechesis given in the General Audience held on Wednesday, October 1, in Saint Peter’s Square.
The so-called “Council” of Jerusalem “took place in a moment of not little tension within the community of the origins. It regarded responding to the question of whether it was opportune to demand circumcision of the pagans who were converting to Jesus Christ, the Lord, or whether it was licit to leave them free of the Mosaic law,” the Pope said. “On this occasion, Paul presents to the Twelve, defined as those of repute, his gospel of freedom from the law. In light of his encounter with the risen Christ, he had understood that in the moment of passing to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, circumcision was no longer necessary for the pagans, nor the laws regarding food and regarding the Sabbath, as a sign of justice: Christ is our justice and ‘just’ is all that which conforms to him. Other signs are not necessary in order to be just.”
The Holy Father mentioned that “The two forms with which Paul and Luke describe the Assembly of Jerusalem are united in the liberating action of the Holy Spirit, because ‘where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom,’ he would say in the Second Letter to the Corinthians.” Reflecting on the theme of Christian liberty, as it appears in the Letters of Saint Paul, Benedict XVI mentioned that it “is never identified with license or with the freewill to do what one wants. It is carried out in conformity with Christ, and therefore, in the authentic service of man, above all, of the most needy.”
The Pope then illustrated the meaning given by Paul and his community to the collection taken up for the poor of Jerusalem: “It was a totally new initiative in the panorama of religious activities. It was not obligatory, but free and spontaneous. All of the Churches founded by Paul in the West participated. The collection expressed the debt of these communities to the mother Church of Palestine, from which they had received the ineffable gift of the Gospel.” The value that Paul attributes to this gesture of solidarity is so great that he uses various terms to describe it, among which is “liturgy,” and the Pope explained that this term, “confers on the collection of money a value even of veneration: On one hand, it is a liturgical gesture or ‘service,’ offered by each community to God, and on the other, it is an action of love carried out in favor of the people. Love for the poor and divine liturgy go together; love for the poor is liturgy. These two horizons are present in every liturgy celebrated and lived in the Church, which by its nature opposes a separation between worship and life, between faith and works, between prayer and charity toward the brothers.”
The second episode is the what is known as the “incident in Antioch,” in Syria, “which allows us to understand the interior liberty that Paul enjoyed. How should one behave on the occasions of communion at the table between believers of Jewish origin and those of Gentile background?” After an initial period in which Peter had shared the table with both, Christians linked to James led him to avoid contact at the table with pagans, so as not to scandalize those who continued observing the rules regarding food purity. “This behavior, which truly threatened the unity and liberty of the Church, brought a fiery reaction from Paul, who arrived to the point of accusing Peter and the rest of hypocrisy,” the Pope said. “If justification was brought about only in virtue of faith in Christ, of conformity with him, without any work of the law, then what sense was there in still observing the [rules on] purity of food when participating at the table? Very probably the perspectives of Peter and Paul were different: for the first, not losing the Jews who had embraced the Gospel, for the second, not diminishing the salvific value of the death of Christ for all believers.”
Concluding his catechesis, Benedict XVI pointed out that “The incident in Antioch showed itself to be a lesson both for Peter and for Paul. Only sincere dialogue, open to the truth of the Gospel, could guide the path of the Church... It is a lesson that we should also learn: With the distinct charisms entrusted to Peter and Paul, let us all be guided by the Spirit, trying to live in the liberty that finds its orientation in faith in Christ and is made tangible in service to our brothers. It is essential to be ever more conformed to Christ. It is in this way that one is truly free, in this way the deepest nucleus of the law is expressed in us: the love of God and neighbor.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 2/10/2008)