Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 13, 2007

Scripture: Acts 15:1-2,22-29. Psalm 67. John 14:23-29. Lectionary #

Peace and transition are two themes that our readings give us today. Some
transitions are relatively peaceful; others are extremely painful. Just
think of how difficult it is for parents to move to an assisted living
complex or a nursing home. This is one of the most traumatic and painful
transitions for them and their children. Growing pains in our early teens
gave us a taste of pain for an important transition; these strange
sensations were anything but peaceful! Conversion experiences or an
assessment of life's past decisions are preludes to transition which can be
very distressing. Yet, one of the most exhilarating experiences in life is
to live through a transition with peace and even joyful hope. At this time
of year many graduates are going through one of the most important
transitions in their life. Law students face this experience as the
attempt to enter the work of their profession. Seminarians moving toward
ordination begin to have doubts whether this is the right way to go. We all
have to go through transitions and most of them are not peaceful. In the
Acts we read of a transition that turned out to be a peaceful one for the
Christian communities. Paul and Barnabas had such success in bringing in
new converts from among the Gentiles that this produced a problem for the
mother community in Jerusalem. Were we not all indebted to the mother
religion of Judaism which was the religion of Jesus who taught its
scriptures and then handed them on to us through the apostles? Through a
gathering in Jerusalem according to Luke, the apostles sifted through the
best way to make the transition for both the Jewish Christians to accept
the Gentiles and not require of them the things they held so sacred. The
Gentiles gave up their religious persuasions and their unethical behaviors.
Somehow a peaceful transition resulted with characters so different as Paul
contrasting with James, the relative of Jesus in Jerusalem, and head of
that church, and Peter who still waffled from time to time taking the easy
way out. Through open dialogue and listening to the Holy Spirit--the gift
of God's peace--the community leaders were able to choose baptism as the
identifying sign over against circumcision. This resulted in a peaceful
transition and solution. We too must cooperate with others and discern how
to come to our transitions with the help of the Holy Spirit and the
Scriptures. Our readings are reminding that whenever we turn toward
something new we should be careful not to turn our backs on the past. I
found this sentence from Beth Porter's reflection on this Sunday's
readings: "In times of transition, we do well to reflect on what we carry
forward from our previous experience and learning--adapting it or simply
bearing in mind certain truths and principles that are fundamental to our
identity and help us live our lives well. And since this Sunday coincides
with Mother's Day let us think about the foundation of care and commitment
they laid in our lives and how we are building on the goodness we received
from them." (Living with Christ, May 2007, p.71).