Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church
I recently had the privilege of participating in the synod that our archdiocese is sponsoring. It was a wonderful morning sharing with people from various parishes about how the Spirit is moving within our community. The importance of community, desiring a deepening of our faith, being patient with the slow process of change, and taking our faith into the world were all aspects of our discussion that are confirmed in today’s reading.
In today’s gospel, Jesus sends disciples out to announce “The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.” (Lk 9: 11) Jesus did not send individuals out alone, but sent them out in pairs. In our synod discussions, we noted that being in community is an important part of our faith experience. It is often in small gatherings, such as Bible studies, prayer groups, and other ministries, where we find people who help nurture us to become more faith-filled disciples.
Jesus sends these disciples out into the area to spread the Good News. Again, our synod group shared that they felt a strong call to go forth to share our faith with others. One comment that came up was “Be the light”! The group agreed that sharing the faith is best accomplished in deeds of kindness and compassion.
To be able to share our faith, all of those at our table felt it was vital to grow personally in our faith. Similar to Job in today’s reading, we feel a deep longing to know God more intimately. We concluded that if we do not work on “building the fire within us” we would not be able to share our faith with others. Our group agreed that we had to “become the Body of Christ” to “be Christ to others.” Through the Eucharist, prayer, scripture and our community we found that we were “fed”, so we could be sent forth to “feed others.”
Our synod group also expressed that there were challenges and frustrations with the transitions occurring in the family of parishes. The discussion, however, focused on “not giving up” and trying to make choices to help grow despite the obstacles. Today’s Responsorial Psalm says- “Wait for the LORD with courage: be stouthearted and wait for the LORD.” (Ps 27 14) The Sprit continues to invite us to wait on the work that the Lord is doing and trusting that God has a plan that is good.
It was inspiring to see and hear how people within our archdiocese are listening to the Spirit and trusting in God’s good work. The Spirit continues to call us to have open hearts, minds and ears so we can become disciples of Christ and go forth and help share that the Kingdom of God is at hand! Let us continue to pray for church, our community, our nation and our world, that we may all come to know God’s invitation to be led by the Spirit towards greater love, compassion and peace. AMEN
-Marylynn Herchline