Many people today celebrate Cinco de Mayo.  While not officially on the liturgical calendar, it could be called a feast to celebrate inculturation—or the “wholeness of holiness”. 

Throughout Acts of the Apostles Luke narrates the story of the early church wrestling with inculturation—how to simultaneously remain faithful to a gifted past and welcome the future’s gifts with open arms.  Nothing about it is easy—neither then nor now—yet faithfulness to dialogue and trust in the Spirit present in one another lead to profound blessing.

Just a few verses before today’s first reading, we hear Paul arguing before the apostles and elders in Jerusalem that circumcision is not necessary for salvation.  Today we hear he had Timothy circumcised.  What happened?  Paul may have understood that Timothy’s many gifts as a preacher and leader in the early Jewish-Christian community depended on inculturation: a deep respect and appreciation that willingly crosses boundaries to adopt another’s culture—as well as share one’s own—in the delicate balancing act of mutuality.

This feast of Cinco de Mayo invites us to ponder inculturation and mutuality.

• How might I celebrate the “wholeness of holiness” this Cinco de Mayo?
• How might I work to deepen mutuality in my intercultural relationships?