From today’s reading...
The Church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria
was at peace.
She was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord,...”
Amazing what happens when we listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and quit jockeying for position and sniping at one another.
For centuries the Church grew as one, albeit not without some challenges and setbacks, until Luther "knew better" on October 31, 1517.
Since then Germany has tried Lutheranism, Calvinism, Enlightenment, Romanticism, Modernism briefly, then Fascism, back to Modernism in West Germany—East Germany got to "enjoy" Communism—and now Post-modernism.* (Is the Holy Spirit guiding them or something else?)
On May 4th I wrote about "The Power of Hands" and how I can trace the laying on of hands from Jesus all the way to the priests who baptized me, hear my confessions, provide "our daily bread" in the form of the Eucharist, Confirmed me, married me, and have buried my loved ones.
How far back can the followers of Joseph Smith or L. Ron Hubbard or Charles Taze Russell or Benny Hinn or Joel Osteen or even Che Guevara track the lineage and origin of their beliefs?
Too hard of a message?
In today's Gospel from John 6 we see Jesus deliver a tough but clear message that created an environment in which
many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer walked with him."
Jesus didn't worry about losing those more concerned with comfort than the Truth.
He said what He meant. He meant what He said. He conveyed his message clearly and convincingly and understood that a magnet repels as strongly as it attracts.
Jesus was not looking for weak connections with His followers. He knew it was better to have 100 followers that would stick with him to the end than 1,000,000 lukewarm followers that would change direction—and churches—with the wind...or the type of suit their preacher wears...or the one who plays the guitar...or...or...
Stop looking for the shortcut and just...
Stay the course.
Keep the faith.
Endure.
* Thanks for Fr. Andrew Bartus for this bit of German religious history.
