Taking the Way demands trust

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary present the challenge of deciding who is in charge of the spiritual journey. We are thoughtful, worldly, experienced people we have abilities to analyse and reason. We need to hear the words of John’s Gospel ‘A servant is not greater than his master.'(John 15:19) In the trust and obedience to the inspiration of the intimate relationship with the Divine we are able to act as the Shepherd praised in the psalm directs. The joy we experience in following the will of God is to be shared with all the lands. In the process of sharing we will confront the established wisdom in groups, regions, traditions and tribes. The reluctance we will have to follow those shepherds will cause us to be places among the outcast and hated. There seems to be tension in the methods we will use to be attractive to others yet without abandoning the guidance of the resonance of our indwelling Spirit with the Divine Spirit. We need to “be all things to all people” as we observe the will of the Father. Our zeal and our certainty about action needs to be reviewed in the context of the apparent contradictions and paradox which actually document the progress of the Way as in the Book of Acts.