Pastor's Spiritual Reflections

By Fr. Leo Schneider (5/06/2007)

Dear People of Holy Name,

“God…opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.” (Acts 14:27)

The Spirit and faith of the early Church and the apostles is inspiring. Recognizing the work of the Spirit among the gentiles and welcoming them into the community of faith, was a bold and dramatic recognition of God’s work in the early church.

When we remember that the early believers were all Jewish people who had found the messiah in Jesus Christ, the recognition of the Spirit among the gentiles and welcoming them to the table was a big step. In essence it was overcoming years of tradition that had separated Jews and Gentiles. But there was no denying the work of the Holy Spirit that was having the same effect in the hearts of the gentiles as was had in the hearts of the Jews.

There is great hope in hearing this scripture today because it reminds us that God, through the work of the Holy Spirit, can overcome years of human tradition that can close doors to the work of God. Our Church today experiences tension over topics such as, married clergy, women in the Church and issues of sexuality, to name a few. The tension rests in our understanding of tradition and what some feel is the work of the Spirit among us today. Such discussions are always fraught with emotion, sometimes more than reason.

It is in the middle of such debates we needed to step back and ask what it is that love requires, because Jesus points out to us that an authentic faith community is marked by the love people have for one another. Here we must consider tradition in light of its true meaning and how its teaching is realized in a new time and place.

One such example is when a faith community is working through the process of redoing their worship space. There will be some who will want to keep things just as they are and others who will want to “up-date” and make things radically new. It is in the middle of such heated moments we need to consider that what is most important is the community and the building up of community. Secondly, it must be considered what kind of worship space will foster that community in the present and the future. It is the living church that will then discern and move into the future, making the changes necessary, with the proper understanding, that will make a new worship space meaningful for all.

Blind adherence to what was will kill, and so will a disregard for the past. What works is remembering our purpose for being Church, which is to love as Christ loved. Here is where we do best to pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit upon all aspects of the Church. Then we can live in the hope that the manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit will find expression in all God’s people, called to live as one in Jesus Christ.

Let us pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit upon our Church, our world, and the hearts of all who seek the Lord. Let us place our hope in the power of God that not only formed the Church and guided her in dramatic ways in its early days, but is also here to do the same today. Such prayer will also prepare us for the coming feast of Pentecost, the birth of the Church and the unbelievable works of the Holy Spirit among us.

May the Spirit pray in us and lead us to live as one, in love for one another and all God’s people. Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your people and enkindle in us the fire of your love!

In Christ, Fr. Leo