Tension is in the choice

The Roman Catholic Lectionary today offers texts which are summaries of events and teachings. The Acts of the Apostles relates the travels of Paul and Barnabas among the synagogues of the region after they are commissioned by the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands in the church at Antioch. The order of things is perhaps strange in a venture of the Spirit. There is a natural tension in human affairs between being spontaneous, going where the spirit leads, and acting with restraint, planning and order. The orthodoxy calls the Apostles to go first to the the Jewish community before bringing the Good News to the world. In some sense, the example of Israel praised by the psalmist is given opportunity to be restored if that is the choice of the those who live the ancient Covenant. Friar Jude Winkler points out the strong dualism in the Gospel of John whereby we are offered a choice between light and dark, between belief in the life in relationship with Jesus and the Father or the isolation and death of rejecting that relationship. The tension of a dualistic choice presents the urgency to move in a direction and to continue a process of growing in holiness through a developing relationship with God. The reality of growth is not an on/off switch but the choice becomes which direction in which to move at this moment of our life.