Wednesday, May 17, 2017

May 17 - 5th Week of Easter - Wednesday

+ Our readings today are about unity and community. Jesus makes it very clear that a disciple of his must remain entirely and wholly attached to him like a branch on a vine. A branch cannot live apart from the vine; and even if it could, its fruit would be of a strange variety – being dissociated from the species of which it is meant to be a part.

And so, we must remain in Christ so that our fruit is godly fruit, our works are meritorious for our salvation, and our loving is pure and self-sacrificial. There are many in this day and age who are semi-rooted to the vine, or so they think; but the truth is either you are or you aren’t connected to it: either you have the Christ-life flowing through your spiritual veins or you have the world’s: and if it is the worlds’ then it can never be entirely true, beautiful or just! – and what this defective and immature connection produces can be seen quite clearly in the precarious and treacherous goings-on in our nation’s capital.

In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Paul and Barnabas in order to stay rooted on the vine – which is the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church, as it was just beginning to take form in the world – decide to go to Jerusalem to consult with the apostles and presbyters there about the matter of circumcision of Gentile converts.

They did not simply act on their own, but wanted to find out – by the working of the Holy Spirit – in consultation with the others who received the same Spirit at their ordinations – what is to be held or not held in this particular case in the day to day operations of the Church.

This is how the Church was set up on Pentecost – it would be guided and informed by the Spirit – and this is how it still operates today. The community is protected, the gathering of personally united persons is guaranteed freedom from error, when acting collegially, and together with the Successor of Peter as their head.

And so today, we thank God for joining us to him, for remaining with us and for joining us to one another in a communion of holiness, fraternity and peace. For, we may always now together go to the house of the Lord, and give him thanks and praise! Amen! Alleluia!



No comments:

Happy New Year 202

  A Happy New Year to you all! I hope and pray I am able to keep this blog up to date now that we are entering into the New Year! I would li...