Reading the Acts of the Apostles chapter 10 alongside with the first reading of today (Acts 11), one realizes the deep significance of the conversion of Cornelius, a man whose very name denoted Roman connections. Luke, the author of the Acts, narrates repeatedly, from both the Jew and Gentile viewpoints, the incidents leading to the conversion - the instances of God's intervention. The crux of the matter, as Peter explained to Cornelius' household, is "That God does not have favourites ¡K anybody of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to Him." (Acts 10:35). God's purpose is made clear in (Acts 10:44 ff ) and it was left to Peter to convince the strongly-prejudiced Jews that they could not afford to stand in God's way (Acts 11:17) when the Holy Spirit itself had come upon the Gentiles as it had on the Jews earlier.

Bearing this in mind, we notice Jesus' teaching about being "the gate of the sheepfold" (Jn. 10:7). His claim that "Anyone who enters through me will be safe; he will go freely in and out and be sure of finding pasture" (v 9). Again "I have come that they may have life to ¡Kthe full." (v 10) explicitly refers to 'sheep' like Cornelius who possessed all the virtues of a good Jew, that is, he recognized the 'shepherd' and was prepared to follow Him.