The life of Christ, which the community of Christ leads, the mentality of Christ alive in the Church, will bear witness against the world insofar as it is still unredeemed and full of evil. The world accuses Christ of being a sinner, finds him guilty in its trial as an unjust man and condemns him.
We should not regret that the octave of Pentecost has been abolished. In the two weeks from now to Pentecost, our attention is focused on the Spirit. Either the readings or the prayers, or both, speak of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was the faithful witness of the Father who showed us, in terms understandable to
Greeting (See the Gospel) “I will not leave you orphans,” says Jesus, “But my Father will give you the Spirit of truth.” May the Spirit of our Lord be always with you. R/ And also with you. Introduction by the Celebrant If You Love Me… The Spirit Will Come We are Christians, people who follow Christ.
The world that has rejected Christ hates Christ and his disciples; it persecutes them because the lifestyle of a good Christian is a silent condemnation of the world. Think, for example, of the films by Luis Buñuel, the Spanish director, who is obsessed with everything Christian and holds it up to bitter sarcasm. Perhaps, more
Fraternal love among Christians, but also love of all people for one another, without boundaries or reservations, is inseparable from friendship with God. Both loves are in fact one. For Christians, human relations have a religious content and express a religious relation. For sure, we can and must love God in himself. But we experience
In full collegiality, the apostles decided at the Council of Jerusalem that the Church is to be open to all without any distinction. All are saved in the same way: through Jesus Christ. God loves all people. That must have been a tremendous challenge for the Jews, to whom pagans were unclean and alien. Is
Implanted by baptism in Christ, the true vine, and therefore, by vocation and by our being Christians, we are called to be one in him. We often fall apart into factions because of our backgrounds in land and culture, regionalism and language differences, social origins and classes, and conservatives versus progressives. So it was in
In carrying out his mission of proclaiming the Gospel, Paul and Barnabas with him, is persecuted, stoned, driven from one place to another. He doesn’t give up; he continues founding local communities and giving them a basic structure of leadership, so that they can function on their own. He has even the courage to “put
In the first reading, Luke shows Paul working the same signs among pagans as Peter among the Jews (here the cure of a crippled person), and preaching the same message. In the Gospel, Christ speaks of God’s indwelling. In the Old Testament, God’s dwelling place was first the Tent and the Ark of the Covenant,
Greeting (See Second Reading) You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart to praise God. May Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, be always with you. R/ And also with you. Introduction by the Celebrant Jesus Is the Way “Where are you going in life, or what are you
