6th Sunday of Easter, C May 25, 2025
Fr. Alexander Albert St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville
Imagine the kind of hard-hitting tweets we would get if St. Paul had an X account. What would Sts. Peter and John do with Instagram to share their visions? Read the letter of St. James and consider what he would be like on Facebook. Talk about a fiery comment section…
It’s an interesting thought experiment, especially in light of today’s first reading. Peter, James, and Paul are at a meeting in Jerusalem to discuss the number 1 hot-button issue of the day: do gentiles need to live like Jews in order to be Christian? This reading glosses over the whole debate and jumps to the conclusion: “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden.” Then, it tells us they sent out an official letter decreeing what Christians ought to believe and do.
Back to our thought experiment: what if other people at the council of Jerusalem had been blasting social media the whole time? What kind of confusion and mixed messaging world have gotten about Christian beliefs? Even back then, when communication required hand-written letters and travel on foot, confusion still got out. St. Paul fought against lies and false teachings on this topic for his entire life, despite the fact that he was there when the final decision happened.
So, you see, it’s not a new problem that Catholics, much less non-Catholics, are often confused about what the Church actually teaches. This week, YouTube had to take down a fake channel claiming to show videos of Pope Leo XIV saying all kinds of things he never said. It was full of AI-generated clips meant to deceive people about what Pope actually said and did. I’m glad YouTube took the channel down, but the fake quotes and videos and soundbites just keep on coming.
Pope Leo actually said that one of the reasons he chose the name “Leo,” was because he wanted to focus on the moral and social challenges and opportunities created by new technology like AI. Pope Leo XIII in the late 1800s did that for industrialization and Pope Leo XIV today wants to do that with the ongoing tech revolution.
Before we dive deeper into knowing what the Church actually teaches, let’s answer this question first: why should we listen to the Church in the first place? Jesus says in the gospel, “whoever loves me will keep my word,.” Simple, right? Except, what do you do when you run into things Jesus never talked about? Things like children working in factories, artificial contraception, the stock market, artificial intelligence, and 10,000 other things that didn’t exist in Jesus’ day. Barely 10 years after Jesus ascends into heaven, there was massive confusion about the transition from Judaism to Christianity because Jesus didn’t explicitly lay out all the rules for that. What is his word so that we can keep it?
Well, one of Jesus’ “words,” was that he gave authority to the Apostles to bind and loose in heaven and on earth. It’s why Revelation says the Apostles’ names are inscribed on the foundations stones of the city of heaven. In other words, what the Church teaches authoritatively is Jesus’ word too. That’s why the letter in the first reading says, “it is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us.” Pretty bold to claim, no?
In this case, the Church commands gentile converts to avoid certain kinds of food and “unlawful marriage.” Why? Well, “unlawful marriage” is explicitly condemned by Jesus. It’s only mentioned again because it’s such a common problem for gentile converts. What about the food thing? That was just practical. Jews spent their whole lives avoiding certain kinds of foods. Even though there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with eating those foods, it was so divisive and upsetting that the Church decided it was better to simply ban it. That way both Jewish and Gentile converts to Christianity could at least eat meals together without causing unnecessary tension.
In case you’re wondering, Catholics are no longer banned from eating those foods. We should never participate in pagan rituals – that’s always wrong – but there’s no need for us to background check every steak as to whether it was part of a sacrifice. How can I say that? Well, in the first reading, Peter – the pope – and the apostles – bishops – established a rule and sent a letter. In the 1400s at the council of Florence, the pope and bishops looked at a new historical context, made a decision, and then sent letters to the rest of the world saying “It condemns… no kind of food that human society accepts and nobody… should make a distinction between animals, no matter how they died.”
Notice that the Church did not change the rules on “unlawful marriage” at that council. That’s something the Church can’t change. It’s always a sin. Rules about food, however, are just practical and temporary rules, sort of like no meat on Fridays in Lent. That wasn’t always a rule and it could theoretically change one day. I doubt we’ll change it and until it does, we should follow it. Why? Because it’s what the Church authoritatively tells us to do.
This is just one layer of difficulty getting both Catholics and non-Catholics to understand our beliefs. People don’t always clearly see the difference between unchangeable dogmas – like no unlawful marriage – and changeable rules like food laws or something like policies on Mass intentions. The second layer of difficulty is the problem of knowing what’s “authoritative” teaching and what’s just the opinion of a theologian or bishop. The final layer is that whole fake news thing: there are a lot of straight-up liars out there who misrepresent the Church on purpose. What can we do about it? Here’s 3 things to start.
First, we all need ongoing conversion. Do we have the right disposition towards the Church? Do we want to know, obey, and love what the Church teaches? Or do we just want the Church to agree with what we already do? Docility – the virtue of being teachable – and humility ought to be lifelong goals of every Catholic. The right attitude is faith seeking understanding, not “prove it, then I’ll listen.”
Secondly, we cannot be lazy. Some teachings and rules are complicated and there’s no way around it. Just because it’s complicated doesn’t mean you can tune it all out and do whatever you want. Understanding the Word of God sometimes takes effort and time. Just because it doesn’t automatically line up with what you learned as a child or with your first instinct doesn’t mean it’s wrong. We don’t have to perfectly understand everything, but if we’re going to say “I don’t get it,” we can at least follow that with “but I’ll follow it because I have faith.” Saying “I don’t get it, so I’ll just ignore it” is really just a form of pride and self-reliance. That’s the attitude that gave St. Paul so much trouble in his ministry. Even back then, St. Peter had to warn people about misinterpreting things St. Paul said.
Third and finally, check your sources. Is what you’re hearing official teaching? That means asking questions like, “did the pope really say it?” When he said it, was it an authoritative thing like a decree, which we have to follow, or just a passing comment in an interview, which we don’t have to follow? Even on lower levels like the diocese or the parish, it’s important to sort fact from rumor. What is the actual diocesan policy? What did Fr. Albert really say? Check your sources.
Thanks to the Holy Spirit, the Church is a reliable guide to salvation. It’s just that people and social media are not always reliable guides to the Church. Nonetheless, as Jesus put it, “do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” The Holy Spirit has got us covered. Just, you know, make sure you’re actually listening to him and not some AI-generated counterfeit.