Acts 1:25-17, 20a, 20c-26; 1Jn 4:11-16; Jn 17:11b-19
7th Sunday of Easter
“God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him (her).”
How about this as an approach to determining orthodoxy in the Catholic Church? Faithfulness to the Church directly connected to faithfulness to the demands of love in one’s life. One’s depth of love for the Church measured by how willing a person is to enter deeply into the relationships that matter in his or her life. Obedience motivated not by fear or apathy or hope of personal advancement but by love for God and one’s neighbor.
How would we imagine the Church if we took Jesus’ words very seriously – that true leadership emerges from dedication to service and true discipleship is measured by our generous acts of love? What if we all took to heart Jesus reminder to the apostles that “those who are not against us are with us?”
These days, are we as a Church happiest when we find common ground with others or happiest when we find reasons for dispute?
Just some questions for a Sunday morning’s prayerful musing
Jim Philipps (3rd millennium pilgrim)
(To purchase book length versions of my writings on the Scriptures and on the Church, go to http://www.twentythirdpublications .com. Books can also be purchased through amazon.com among other sites.)
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