By Fr Antony Christy, SDB –
May 22, 2022: 6th Sunday in Easter time
Acts 15: 1-2, 22-29; Revelations 21:10-14,22-23; John 14: 23-29
The Word today sums up the readings we have been listening to in the past week. There is a kind of a premonition, a kind of nostalgia, a sense of something already there and still yet to come.
It’s a kind of feeling that students of the final year of School would have before they close for their study leave… a feeling of ‘a-lot-to-do’ and a feeling of ‘are-we-missing-each-other’… Jesus keeps telling his disciples that they need to learn to live on their own, not that he is about to abandon them, but that they have to graduate to the next level. Jesus prepares them for the same.
Look at the community in the readings these days – the first communities of Christians getting together, who felt something uniting them, but still were conscious of all the differences among them. That is the crux of the Word today… we are called to live as a community… a community of persons who feel so united because of something that unites us, something that is with us and within us…in spite of all the differences that is among us.
The fundamentalist group that creates a commotion, the reaction of the rest, the emergency council convened and the heated discussion therein, the misunderstanding between two top leaders, the break-up: no, we are not talking of something that happened in a neighbouring parish these days, but what happened in the Early Church, right in times of the Acts of the Apostles.
We are a community of human persons each with our own ego, our own interests and personality traits. There are differences of opinions and perspectives, without that there is no richness and variety.
We can here think of an analogy given by Paulo Freire, highlighting the difference between a pavement and a mosaic – both made of smaller units which make up the whole; the former made of units that are of same size and shape to create the uniform pavement that we see on the sidewalks of a road, the latter a grand art formed by tiny parts each in different shape and size and shade adding its uniqueness to bring out ONE GRAND MASTERPIECE.
To be God’s people we are not called to sacrifice our uniqueness, rather we are called to live it to the full – ‘I have come that you may have life, and have it in abundance!'(Jn 10:10) We are not called to sweep under the carpet the differences and the disagreements we might have – Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.(2 Cor 3:17) To be God’s people all that we need to do is be mindful that we are God’s people – that is, to be conscious that in spite of our differences we have something that unites us, some One that unites us!
That which unites us is the fact that we are called by One God, our Father and Mother, to be sons and daughters, to be beloved children in spite of our idiosyncrasies. We are commissioned to form one community by the Risen Lord, the head of that mystical body! The Risen Lord lives with us and within us, through the Spirit who keeps us together and leads us on.
‘Let your hearts not be troubled!’ says the Lord. When I see in my community human elements of ego and pride, misunderstandings and slandering, discouragements and dirty politics… the Lord says, let your hearts not be troubled… face it with courage, wisdom and grace that the counselor brings you!
The secret is this:
1. That we feel God living with us and within us: we note this in the way the disciples handled the discussion…’for it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us,’ they said – the expression is fantastic to hear… speaking of the Holy Spirit as someone who lived with them and decided along with them… that is the faith that sustained that early faith community! That is what we call, feeling God with you and within you!
2. That we fall back on the Community for discernment: whether you are the leader of the community or one of the members of the community, fall back on the community for a process of discernment. Deciding on one’s own whims and fancies is not going to help in any way. You have a community; you are a community, convened by God! Hence what is normal is that we find God’s will as a community, for the good of the community.
3. That we find the Light of God illumining our life: the light of the Lord shines on you and you walk in the light! There is no need to confound yourself for in the light there is nothing that is hidden. What is needed is the eyes of faith and a patient heart. The Spirit of the Lord teaches you all that you need to know, provided you feel the Spirit’s presence and yearn for the Spirit’s direction!
What a People we are – God the Father and Mother, has called us; the Risen Son of God unites us and the Spirit of the Living God enlightens and leads us! What thanks can we give the Lord almighty!
Let all the Peoples praise you O Lord! Let all the Peoples praise you!
Fr Antony Christy is a Salesian Priest from 2005 and has a Masters in Philosophy (specialisation in Religion) and a Masters in Theology (specialisation in Catechetics). He has a Doctorate in Theology with specialisation in Catechetics and youth ministry at Salesian Pontifical University, Rome. Walking with the young towards a World of Peace and dialogue is the passion that fires him.