Saint Cornelius the Centurion: The Light of Grace
People will come from the east and west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the Kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.
—Luke 13:20-30
What little we know about Saint Cornelius comes from chapters 10 and 11 of the Acts of the Apostles. However, his brief story marks an important shift in the life of the Early Church: through his encounter with Cornelius, Saint Peter was convinced that the Gospel message must be taken to the Gentiles.
In Acts, Saint Luke tells us that Cornelius was the commander of a cohort of Roman soldiers and that he was “devout and God-fearing along with his whole household” (10:2). Luke continues by pointing out that Cornelius was generous in giving alms to the Jewish people and that he was a man devoted to God. These are important details, especially when we remember that the Jewish people were subjects of the Roman Empire.
One afternoon, Cornelius received a vision of an angel who told him: “Your prayers and almsgiving have ascended as a memorial offering before God. Now send some men to Joppa and summon one Simon who is called Peter” (v. 6). Cornelius obeyed and sent two servants and a trusted solider to look for Saint Peter.
At the same time, Peter—who had been struggling over the question of whether the Christian community should receive Gentiles into the communion of believers—also had a vision:
He saw heaven opened and something resembling a large sheet coming down, lowered to the ground by its four corners. In it were all the earth’s four-legged animals and reptiles and the birds of the sky. A voice said to him, “Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.” But Peter said, “Certainly not, sir. For never have I eaten anything profane or unclean. The voice spoke to him again, a second time, “What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.”
While Peter was puzzling over what to make of all this, Cornelius’ men arrived and asked him to accompany them to the home of Cornelius. Peter accepted their invitation, despite the fact that devout Jews were forbidden to enter the home of a Gentile. Through his vision and meeting with Cornelius, Peter came to understand that the Good News was intended for all people: “In truth, I see that God shows not partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him” (vv. 34-36). Peter baptized Cornelius and his family, welcoming the first Gentiles into the Church.
Later traditions tell us that Cornelius traveled with Saint Peter and eventually became bishop of Caesarea in Palestina, an important Christian center in the first centuries after Jesus.
“The Apostle Peter in his speech to those who had come together in the house of the Roman centurion Cornelius declares that all the nations of the earth without distinction are henceforth invited to consider the universal fatherhood of God; and he sums up this heavenly doctrine in the message of peace: ‘preaching peace by Jesus Christ’ (Acts 10:36).”
-Pope Saint John XXIII, Message for Peace (1961); Image: Peter baptizing Cornelius depicted on the 12th-century baptismal font in St. Bartholomew’s Church in Liège, Belgium
As we celebrate the memory of Saint Cornelius each February 2, the Universal Church also celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, recalling that day when Mary and Joseph presented the infant Jesus in the Temple 40 days after his birth. This was also the encounter when the old prophet Simeon took Jesus into his arms and offered his great hymn of praise: My eyes have seen your salvation,/ which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples: / a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel (Luke 2:31-32). Simeon recognized that the Child's life would be a mix of sorrow and joy and the source of salvation and hope for all people. The story of that life was the Good News that Cornelius accepted, and which re-shaped his whole existence.
In his Message for the 34th World Communications Day, Saint John Paul II reminded us:
The living heart of the message which the Apostles preach is Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection—life triumphant over sin and death. Peter tells the centurion Cornelius and his household: ‘They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and made him manifest ... And he commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that he is the one ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead’ (Acts 10:39-42).
It goes without saying that circumstances have changed enormously in two millennia. Yet the same need to proclaim Christ still exists. Our duty to bear witness to the death and resurrection of Jesus and to his saving presence in our lives is as real and pressing as was the duty of the first disciples. We must tell the good news to all who are willing to listen.
In a profound way, Saint Cornelius and his family represent each one of us.
We come from a culture that isn’t looking for a Savior and which values power, comfort, and expediency, much like the Roman Empire of which Cornelius was a part. Despite these dynamics, however, the light of grace began to lead him on a new path. In accepting the Gospel, the lives of Cornelius and his family were forever changed and their openness to God’s grace also marked a significant change in the Church.
The same possibilities exist for us and the Church when we are able to open ourselves to God’s voice calling us to choose a different and better way—a life of discipleship.
O God, by your Spirit you called Cornelius the Centurion to be the first Christian among the Gentiles; Grant to your Church such a ready will to go where you send and to do what you command, that under your guidance it may welcome all who turn to you in love and faith, and proclaim the Gospel to all nations; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-from Holy Women, Holy Men
