A recent email from the director of the Macombre Christian Academy in Haiti (which our parish supports through the "Haiti Goat Project") began,
"The longest journey starts with one step."Throughout the Easter Season, we read from the Acts of the Apostles, the New Testament book that tells us about the growth and struggles of the earliest Christian communities in the days after Jesus' ascension. Sunday's first reading as well as the first reading for today don't shy away from bringing to light the all-too-human emotions of jealousy, pride and selfishness that lead us to want to keep all the fame and 'good stuff' for ourselves. (Why should we let the Gentiles in on the Good News? And if we do, how much will we demand of them first?) One might speculate that if the leaders of the early Church had not had the humility and good sense to be attentive to God's Holy Spirit, Christianity may well be relegated to a tiny sect in the mid-east today, if it survived at all!
If we can take the time to try to discern God's hand at work in a situation, even if things aren't going exactly according to our plan, the end result is likely to be growth, renewal, resurrection. If, however, we wall ourselves off and greedily claim what is 'ours', well, we have nice walls, don't we?
Our journey of faith is a long one. You have already taken that first step. Let Jesus guide you along the path each day to more closely follow in his steps.
As Catholic Christians, we do NOT teach that natural disasters are God's 'punishment', nor that they are anything other than the natural disruptions that just happen in creation. Where we DO speak of God at work is in how we react to these challenges and disasters. In the bravery of first responders, in the humanity of one stranger comforting another, in the generous offering of prayers, material goods, muscle-power or money ... we demonstrate the love and selflessness that Jesus taught and that the early Church remembered. We ARE the Body of Christ.
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