+(Intro) We have the memorial of St Rafael Arnaiz Baron, a recent saint of our Order. As we heard at Vigils, he wrote that: The truth is that the real pathways of God are very easy and very simple when we walk along them full of the spirit of trust and with free hearts fixed on God. Let us reflect on times when we have failed in trust, to have our hearts fixed on God.
(After the gospel) Our reading from the Acts of the Apostles this morning gives us a wonderful example of what the synodal Church was like in its earliest years. Peter confronted by circumcised believers in Jerusalem shared with them what happened to him while in the city of Joppa, how the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the gentiles.
The Holy Spirit is constantly being poured out upon the Church, in our time as well as it was in the earliest days of the Church. As St Rafael learned in his own life: “The self-denial of a life of silence and solitude blossoms into the exuberant joy of a heart which counts its blessings in terms of simplicity and integrity. Those who follow Christ, do so along the way of the cross… When we love the Cross all is gained.”
And isn’t this the message of Jesus in our gospel when he tells us “this is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.” We celebrate this mystery here, a mystery that lies at the center of each and of all of our lives.
Acts 11:1-18; John 10:11-18