Acts 4:8-12

Peter and John had healed a lame man at the temple gate and it caused a sensation. This led to their arrest. In today’s passage Peter stands before the Sanhedrin and boldly presents the heart of the Christian message.

1 John 3:1-2

We continue our reading from the first letter of John. Today we hear something that Paul had emphasized too: we are God’s sons and daughters, not just in some future life, but here and now.

John 10:11-18 

Bishop Untener’s Homily

Life on Other Planets?

Now that we realize that our galaxy, the Milky Way, has billions of suns (that is, stars) and that there are billions of "Milky Ways" (that, is galaxies) in our universe... more and more people tend to think that there is intelligent life on other planets. We can’t be sure, not yet anyway, but let’s pose a hypothetical situation. Let’s say that there are planets out there in distant galaxies where intelligent life exists.

If that were the case, where would Jesus fit in? He was born in tiny Bethlehem, raised on a small hill town in Nazareth, and lived only for a little more than 30 years in a country about the size of the thumb of Michigan. Where does he fit into all this? Now that we know more about the incredible magnitude of this cosmos and – hypothetically – intelligent life exists on planets incredible distances away... does this "cut Jesus down to size," or does it expand his greatness?

Peter’s Speech

With all that in mind I was struck by what Peter said in the sermon we just heard. Referring to Jesus he says:

"There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to mortals by which we are to be saved."

That’s quite a statement.

Now there are some evangelicals who would use that text to hold that, unless a person explicitly takes Jesus Christ as their personal savior, they cannot be saved. No doubt you’ve heard preachers say that.

You’ll be interested to know what our Church teaches about this. Our doctrine, promulgated at the Second Vatican Council is as follows:

Those can also attain to everlasting salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the gospel of Christ or his Church, yet sincerely seek God and, moved by grace, strive by their deeds to do his will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience. Nor does divine Providence deny the help necessary for salvation to those who without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God, but who strive to live a good life, thanks to his grace.

That’s quite a statement. It’s our doctrine and we can be proud of it.

Keep in mind that a person can be helped or saved by somebody they don’t even know. Somebody behind the scenes can help us without us knowing it. This has happened to all of us in many ways.

The quote from Peter’s speech does not confine salvation to a few, nor does it minimize the importance of Jesus. Just the opposite. It expands our awareness of who Jesus is. He is not just an interesting historical figure who said and did some good things. He is the Son of God. He is Lord of all – all people, the whole universe. As we say in the creed, "through Him all things were made."

Good News

This is good news. Sometimes when we think of all the massive energies at work in the universe, it can be frightening. We wonder if we aren’t simply victims of forces that are ultimately evil, destructive, out of control – exploding stars, black holes. We can even think that way about forces here on earth – crime, drugs, nuclear weapons, chemical weapons, terrorism.

In the face of all this we hear the good news of today’s readings that…

• God exists.
• God is the source of all that is.
• God is good.
• God loves us.
• We are made in God’s image.
• We are sons and daughters of God and our destiny is to be happy, safe, at peace, alive forever.

The Eucharist

When we think these wide thoughts, the celebration of the Eucharist takes on even more meaning.

• In the Creed we say together: "We believe in one God, the Father, the almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen."
• At Communion we hold in our hands the Son of God who cares for us as a Good Shepherd.
• At the end of the Eucharistic prayer, as the Risen Lord is held high before all of us, we say: "Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours Almighty Father, forever and ever. Amen."

That’s why we call the Eucharist a "celebration." It’s the celebration of the good news of all that God has done for us through Jesus Christ – he has even overcome death. Enjoy! After all, it’s the Easter season.

Originally given on May 14, 2000