A Word from Your Pastor April 29

Jesus Is the Vine and we are the branches.  We draw life from Him and we bring what He gives to us out to the rest of the world.  This is God’s way of making Himself known in His creation and among all peoples.

We live in a time of incredible change.  Pope Francis has said that we do not live merely in an epoch of change, but rather in a change of epoch.  Something New is coming that involves everyone everywhere.  The Church has lived through such times in the past.

First, there was the Coming of the Messiah, Jesus, in the first century.  The longings of the People of God were fulfilled in a way that surprised everyone.  The Messiah expected was not a merely earthly ruler who took over power from foreign invaders, but rather a new kind of Messiah, One Who would suffer and die and rise and offer a deeper fulfillment than ever expected.

The Church, the community of believers in the Risen Savior was at first a Jewish reality, including those who had walked with Jesus and who experienced the power of His Spirit in their lives.  Soon, however, it opened to the Gentile world.  To the surprise of even the Apostles themselves, in Jesus Christ, God provided a way of unity for the Greco-Roman world.  The Hellenistic society of the Mediterranean opened to a conquering of the Roman Empire by the Church, now a community that saw no difference in the promise of salvation for all in the known world.

In modern times, the Church came to realize that what has been held together in the former Roman Empire has to open itself to a true World Christianity.  The promise of Salvation is for the whole human race and for all of creation.  The Vine has extended branches truly to every nation on earth.  “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; all the families of the nations shall bow down before him.”

What has happened externally is also happening interiorly in hearts that are open to the Spirit of the Living God.  We are given a grace in our time to communicate at a depth both with God and with one another about spiritual matters.  Communities all over the world are learning to speak about Faith at a new depth.  You are called to share In this.  You are part of the Vine and where you are is a place where new living branches are growing.

Have you discovered the way in which God’s Spirit is at work in your life to bring Jesus Christ into new places and to the people who have not yet come to know Him?  Can you open your eyes to see?  Will you give God the place in your own heart and life that He seeks?

Hear the voice of the Shepherd Who speaks to you personally: “If you remain in Me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become My disciples.”  May we truly cooperate with the Spirit and bear much fruit!