Acts 15:1-2.22-29; Ps 66 (67); Ap 21:10-14.22-23; Jn 14:23-29

“It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us …”: this is how the community of Jerusalem solves a delicate problem that appeared in the life of the first Christian communities: whether or not to impose the circumcision and the observance of the Torah to Christians from the pagan world. That Spirit which Jesus promises his disciples, so that it might teach everything and remember everything he said, thus acts in the life of the Church: through a community discernment allowing us not to ignore, but to face problems and difficulties, to search not only for possible solutions, but how to build communion within the concrete experiences of people and communities. Jesus promises to make every Christian the holy place of God’s dwelling place: “we will come to him and make our home with him”. The promise is very personal, but at the same time we can only become God’s dwelling if we keep that Word of his that weaves relationships with us and weaves them together. God dwells in every believer just as – announces the Apocalypse – the Lord and his Lamb are at the center of the heavenly Jerusalem and illuminate it. Jerusalem is both a bride and a city: the relationship with God is intimate and personal, like that between two spouses, but also open and hospitable, rich in multiple relationships, like those of a city.

Commentary by Comunità di Dumenza

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves, Prinknash Abbey