Here is the text of the reflection I shared with the community gathered in prayer today: a reflection on some of the questions that often occupy our hearts and minds, especially when we are challenged to grow in faith.
A number of years ago, there was an advertising slogan introduced by local hydro companies. The phrase of choice was: Call before you dig. These four little words seemed to be plastered on billboards, repeated endlessly on television commercials and in any number of other places. The aim of this campaign was to help the public develop a habit. Before digging in your garden, or on your property, call to make sure that you’re not going to encounter a buried power line. I haven’t seen these words so prominently displayed in recent years, so maybe this habit has indeed been adopted … or maybe not.
Adopting healthy habits is a practice we should all strive to establish, both in the world of modern society and in our spirituality. In the gospel today, Jesus tries to encourage his disciples to trust that he will always be with them. He reassures them that he will always be close to them: Do not let your hearts be troubled, he says, but the disciples' hearts were indeed troubled. Those first followers of Jesus weren’t any different from his modern-day disciples. No matter how many times we hear him repeat these words: Do not let your hearts be troubled … do not be afraid, there is always a part of us that will respond like Thomas did: but, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way? Have you ever noticed that when we are in familiar surroundings, when we know what to expect, everything is fine, but as soon as something changes, or as soon as we suspect that a change is coming, there is a certain level at which we will be worried, troubled, even afraid of what the future will bring. Jesus knows that we are all insecure when we lose a part of us, so he calls out to us: Do not let your hearts be troubled; believe in God and believe also in me. In these words, Jesus speaks to us with the voice of a caring and loving father who knows that we have everything we need in order to live the gospel, except that we need to grow in trust.
Trust is at the heart of the life of a disciple. Perhaps Phillip was better at trusting than Thomas was. His words reveal the words that all of us strive to use: Lord, show us the Father, show us the way to grow in trust. In response to Phillip’s words, the Lord did indeed send the gift of the Holy Spirit to strengthen the disciples in their faith. Having received the gift of the Spirit, Peter and his companions were able to call others to follow in the footsteps of Jesus: Like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house … for you are a chosen race … God’s own people. These words, these images must have seemed strange to those first hearers, but through the centuries that have come and gone since, we have continued to discover the truth of this image. You and I are indeed living stones. One by one, the Lord calls us to follow him. We are indeed a chosen race, chosen by God, his beloved disciples.
Each day, we strive to live in the light of the risen Christ. By the grace of God, Jesus’ disciples have always sought to identify the needs of his people, and to respond to their needs with loving hearts, willing hands and generous spirits. One of the first concerns of the disciples in those very first days after Jesus' resurrection was to care for the widows in their community. Identifying the needy in our midst is always a kind of litmus test of our commitment, because Jesus didn’t call us to live this life for the sake of our own comfort. Rather he challenges us each day to get into the habit of caring for those who are the most vulnerable, the most in need. Because they knew the importance of caring for the vulnerable in society, the disciples appointed some of their own number and asked them to dedicate their energy to reaching out to those who were most often marginalized or ignored. The account of those first seven servants is still referred to as the scriptural basis for the role of deacons – men of good standing, full of the spirit and wisdom, who are appointed to the task of caring for those in need, but it is not only deacons who are appointed to this task; every one of us who gathers around this table is also called to seek out the people in our society who need our help, and to do what we can to respond to their needs.
What habits must we develop in order to become better, more committed disciples of Jesus? How is Jesus present to us each day, helping us to recognize the Father in our midst? Do we truly believe that God builds his church with living stones, and if so are we willing to cooperate with his plan to use our talents to do the building? How is God inviting us to care for those in our society who are in need, and are we willing to accept his invitation?
Healthy habits for discipleship
A number of years ago, there was an advertising slogan introduced by local hydro companies. The phrase of choice was: Call before you dig. These four little words seemed to be plastered on billboards, repeated endlessly on television commercials and in any number of other places. The aim of this campaign was to help the public develop a habit. Before digging in your garden, or on your property, call to make sure that you’re not going to encounter a buried power line. I haven’t seen these words so prominently displayed in recent years, so maybe this habit has indeed been adopted … or maybe not.
Adopting healthy habits is a practice we should all strive to establish, both in the world of modern society and in our spirituality. In the gospel today, Jesus tries to encourage his disciples to trust that he will always be with them. He reassures them that he will always be close to them: Do not let your hearts be troubled, he says, but the disciples' hearts were indeed troubled. Those first followers of Jesus weren’t any different from his modern-day disciples. No matter how many times we hear him repeat these words: Do not let your hearts be troubled … do not be afraid, there is always a part of us that will respond like Thomas did: but, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way? Have you ever noticed that when we are in familiar surroundings, when we know what to expect, everything is fine, but as soon as something changes, or as soon as we suspect that a change is coming, there is a certain level at which we will be worried, troubled, even afraid of what the future will bring. Jesus knows that we are all insecure when we lose a part of us, so he calls out to us: Do not let your hearts be troubled; believe in God and believe also in me. In these words, Jesus speaks to us with the voice of a caring and loving father who knows that we have everything we need in order to live the gospel, except that we need to grow in trust.
Trust is at the heart of the life of a disciple. Perhaps Phillip was better at trusting than Thomas was. His words reveal the words that all of us strive to use: Lord, show us the Father, show us the way to grow in trust. In response to Phillip’s words, the Lord did indeed send the gift of the Holy Spirit to strengthen the disciples in their faith. Having received the gift of the Spirit, Peter and his companions were able to call others to follow in the footsteps of Jesus: Like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house … for you are a chosen race … God’s own people. These words, these images must have seemed strange to those first hearers, but through the centuries that have come and gone since, we have continued to discover the truth of this image. You and I are indeed living stones. One by one, the Lord calls us to follow him. We are indeed a chosen race, chosen by God, his beloved disciples.
Each day, we strive to live in the light of the risen Christ. By the grace of God, Jesus’ disciples have always sought to identify the needs of his people, and to respond to their needs with loving hearts, willing hands and generous spirits. One of the first concerns of the disciples in those very first days after Jesus' resurrection was to care for the widows in their community. Identifying the needy in our midst is always a kind of litmus test of our commitment, because Jesus didn’t call us to live this life for the sake of our own comfort. Rather he challenges us each day to get into the habit of caring for those who are the most vulnerable, the most in need. Because they knew the importance of caring for the vulnerable in society, the disciples appointed some of their own number and asked them to dedicate their energy to reaching out to those who were most often marginalized or ignored. The account of those first seven servants is still referred to as the scriptural basis for the role of deacons – men of good standing, full of the spirit and wisdom, who are appointed to the task of caring for those in need, but it is not only deacons who are appointed to this task; every one of us who gathers around this table is also called to seek out the people in our society who need our help, and to do what we can to respond to their needs.
What habits must we develop in order to become better, more committed disciples of Jesus? How is Jesus present to us each day, helping us to recognize the Father in our midst? Do we truly believe that God builds his church with living stones, and if so are we willing to cooperate with his plan to use our talents to do the building? How is God inviting us to care for those in our society who are in need, and are we willing to accept his invitation?
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