Sixth Sunday of Easter Year A
Acts 8:5–8, 14–17
Psalm 66:1–3, 4–5, 6–7, 16, 20
1 Peter 3:15–18
John 14:15–21
Often, our experience of Church tends to isolate the ministries from one another. We have to relearn what the first generation knew instinctively. Every ministry has a contribution to make. Only when we work together do we give a true witness of the way God shares His gifts.
Jesus told His Apostles before they were ready to understand, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth.” He would share the Communion that was His with the Father and the Spirit with the disciples who kept their attention o Love. To love Jesus, keeping His commandments is to love the Father and the Spirit, to share in the very life of God. When the Church does this, she allows every member to participate without competitions and with mutual understanding of one another’s gifts.
The Deacon Philip proclaimed the Faith clearly and many came to believe and were baptized. Recognizing what Philip had accomplished, the Apostles then did what Jesus entrusted to them, sending Peter and John to the new Christian community of Samaria, imparting the Spirit by the laying on of hands. This gesture is still used in our time in Confirmation, Ordination and other Sacraments as well. This is collaboration in the best sense of the term.
Having lived through these days with the Neophytes of the Church, those newly baptized or received into full communion in the Catholic Church, and confirmed by the laying on of hands, we are all reminded that we are meant to work together for the growth of the Church. This can serve as a reminder that the tendency of our world to see competition among the ministries is not or Catholic way.
Just as the Apostles built on the effective ministry of Philip, through the same Spirit, we can discover deeper ways of cooperation. True collaboration points to the reality of interdependent ministries. Each new member of the Church has something unique to offer. The Spirit forms us into one body.
Given the invitation to be able “to give a reason for our Hope,” this is a good moment to review our own path to Faith. It is parallel to the first growth of the Church.
Jesus makes a promise to us, even before we can understand. Following His guidance, doing His commands and loving Him, we find our way into communion with God and with the Church. Both aspects are necessary.
Confident that we have received the Spirit, each of us must discern our own way of “sharing our story.” What are the questions that have been answered for us? What questions do others ask us that we find ready responses in our own hearts? To whom are we now being sent?
As we articulate our Faith, we must be ready to invite others to build on what we have accomplished. This is the work of the Church. It is God’s work entrusted to us. Our interdependent ministries draw us into unity. The more we trust in the Spirit of God at work in us and through us, the more truly we become a collective witness of the Gospel. Our world longs for such a witness.
What is the reason for your Hope? Whose ministries are needed to continue to build up what you have done?