Invited into a divine relationship

 There can often be difficulty in trying to understand how God relates to us daily. At the heart of the doctrine of the Trinity is the desire that is planted in every human heart to both comprehend and apprehend who God is. In our Christian understanding, we see God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This is a relationship where we see a love relationship develop between the Father and the Son and between the Son and the Father through the Holy Spirit. We are caught up in that relationship through the Incarnational love of the Trinity that seeks to overflow into the whole of creation. This divine love notices how God is present in the dance, the dancer, and the dancing. 

Yet we can often struggle to see the reality of God in material terms. Thus we can personify elements of God in terms that we can understand. We want to see the face of God and live. Many artists and movie directors have sought to aid in recreating bible stories and the life of Jesus. Yet in many ways, each of these depictions only creates a door rather than a mirror of the divine reality. No image can encapsulate the whole of God. If we could grasp God in a particular image or likeness it would become an idol that recreates God in our own image and likeness. 

This is where we encounter God within ourselves through the room of self-knowledge. We often struggle to understand ourselves let alone understand God. Yet this desire for the infinite and the longing for a relationship draws us to a deeper appreciation of the whole of creation. This burning fire overflows into our day-to-day relationships and causes us to ponder how this love that sustains all things in being overflows into how we interact with each other. It calls us to be people who give thanks for how God is present in all things without making anything God. There is a glimpse of how God becomes present in the way we share our gifts and talents. It helps us to appreciate that spirit that sustains unity of purpose while also recognizing the diversity of charisms. God seeks to be at one with us so that we can be one with God.

Allowing the light to shine within us

 After 50 days we arrive at the end of Easter with the celebration of Pentecost. This celebration marks the birth of the Church not just as a physical entity but as a shift in the relationship between God and humanity. It is why Mary is often depicted in iconography as presiding over the birth of the Church just as she presided over the birth of Jesus. This significant moment allows us to ponder more deeply where the light of Christ is called to shine out from within us to set the world on fire with the love of God.

It is poignant that after this particular season, we extinguish the light of Christ that has been focused on the Paschal Candle. The Paschal Candle is only relit at baptism to mark how we are born into Christ through the waters of baptism and how at a funeral we are born into eternity through our own dying to self. The light of Christ is extinguished externally because the light of Christ is called to burn deep within us and transform us from the inside out.

This is at the heart of the passage from the Act of the Apostles 2.1-43. In this reading we seek to hear the voice of God addressed to us in a language we can understand and appropriate. This prayerful listening helps to unlock the wellspring of God's grace within us. The sense of renewal and rebirth can gush forth powerfully in a way that often amazes and surprises us. The descent of the Holy Spirit is not scheduled on our timeline but on God's initiative. 

As we see this allows us to be open to the teachable moment where Peter reechoes the work of Scripture contained in the words of the prophet Joel.  The reality is that in the person of Jesus, we see the law and the prophets fulfilled. Drawing on the Davidic proclamation that we are called to be glad in celebrating the reign of God within us.  This teachable moment touches both our minds and our hearts in welcoming this Good News.

This proclamation is to be shared in the way we live by sharing what we hold in common. Allowing us to break bread with each other and share generously with those in greatest need. The reality is that we are called to be at one with each other so that we can be at one with God.

This is at the heart of synodality as we listen to the voice of God in our own age. It allows us to become teachable in discovering who we are called to become in Christ. Then to provide pathways that most easily allow the Gospel to be witnessed in our own time.

Go out to all the world, proclaim the Good News to all creation

 The missionary impulse to tell the Good News is not confined within the walls of our Churches but seeps out into the whole of the created universe. Often we can become comfortable in familiar environments and beautiful places designed for worship. Yet I remember being present in York Minster Cathedral in  December, amidst a snowstorm. The yellow light created through the stained glass, and illuminated this sacred place in a way that was hard to describe. It was like being enveloped in a golden pall that sustained me in a deeper appreciation of God's goodness.

It is these moments of grace where creation seems to shine through our lives' windows to appreciate our salvation. Creation is that unwritten Gospel that speaks in a language echoed by poets, musicians, and artists. Yet even these cannot contain the reality of who God is for us. We need to discover and believe in something greater than ourselves. This is the God whose love initiates all that brings life into our world and hearts.

In our modern age, we can see belief poisoned by demons who seem to corrupt and pervert what was created to sustain all life. It takes people of many languages to raise our voices in a common language that renews and recreates our environment. It calls us not to be afraid of what seems to poison or corrupt us but to discover ways that bring healing to our world. This common language is not to deify creation but to recognize our common call to be stewards of the life entrusted to us.

The Good News we are called to proclaim does not place us at the heart of creation but God who seeks to sustain all life. This is especially important in how we walk gently on our earth rather than seeing us at war with nature. Like St Francis, we are called to seek a communion with God that engages us with the whole of creation as a gift and not as our private possession. That helps us to engage with the gift of creation and the work of human hands. We are called to be people of thanksgiving who sustain this gift in how we seek to be present to God and each other. We are called to rejoice in how we live not just consume the life gifted to us. To proclaim with our lives what we witness in our hearts.

How do we choose our friends?

 In an age where it is possible to know people from around the world who can be in contact with us instantly, it is hard to distinguish between a friend and an acquaintance. This is especially true when people can become virtual friends through the challenges of AI. We can start to notice how friendships may be built around how much people like our posts or the number of times they view our photos. Admittedly, the gift of friendship applications is that they keep us connected with each other in lives that are occupied by many things. Yet they can also burden us by substituting online interactions with deep and lasting friendships where we know the person more than just knowing about what they are doing.

The challenge of the Gospel is that Jesus doesn't just want a passing friendship with us. He actually engages with us even when we are not ready to be chosen. In the Acts of the Apostles, we read that the Holy Spirit is poured out on believers and non-believers alike. The one attitude to life is that they are listening to what is right and what brings meaning to their lives. This attentive listening is often referred to in modern terminology as mindfulness. Yet it is not just seeking out a good for ourselves but rather a more radical sense that is willing to go the extra mile for others even to be extent of giving our lives for them.

This outpouring of love is most radically expressed by Jesus in his passion, especially in the Garden of Gethsemane. I find this the most profound place of love because it demonstrates the internal struggle that we share in recognizing our human limitations and our divine calling. God chooses us to love others not because of some remarkable talent or superhuman gift but rather because God sees our fundamental ability to share our lives for the good of another.

Each day we witness how people lay down their lives for others: parents for their children; children for their aging parents; first responders who rush into harm's way and even those little courtesies that make room for the other. Jesus places a radical call on our hearts to see that our friendship is not just skin deep but rather speaking in a language we can all understand. God chooses us to be known and remain in that love.