Conversion membership and witness

The journey toward greater intimacy in our relationship with the Divine can involve navigating through some customs and traditions which seem to be obstacles to our progress. The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today present the struggle of the early Church to encourage perseverance by those called to the Way by the gracious movement of the Spirit in resonance with their indwelling Spirit. The Collect for the liturgy today proclaims that it is the grace, blessing and works of God whereby we stand on the road to justification. This tension between the conversion of those without understanding of and adherence to the tradition is resolved according to Luke in the Acts of the Apostles by the proclamation by Peter of a limited set of behaviours which would be expected of these converts. The exhortation of Jesus from the Gospel of John seems far simpler. The deep profound joy of peace and wisdom is found by abiding, living in Jesus who does the will of the Father. Those who abide in God keep His commandments. The concern of Luke expressed in Acts about the observances of converts is more detailed than Paul reports to the Gentiles in his letters. Friar Jude Winkler comments that Luke was addressing the concern that the witness given by the followers of Christ in the Gentile communities specifically exclude pagan practice and sexual immorality. For Luke, to whom hierarchy was important, this directive should come from the head of the Church and be rooted in the early decisions of the Apostles. The need for witness to living in the Spirit of God is essential to show by action the Good News. This attentiveness to what might cause scandal in the population is a deep respect and thanksgiving for the experience of intimate relationship with God. The focus on what might diminish the authenticity of the relationship in the opinion of the uninformed and yet to be called is a desire like Apostle Paul to "be all things to all people" so that they might come to know the unsurpassed joy simply expressed in the Gospel today.