Vitality of Life

The first day of May is celebrated in many countries as International Workers Day (May Day Thousands of workers across globe mark May Day) In response to the “May Day” celebrations for workers sponsored by Communists, Pius XII instituted the feast of St. Joseph the Worker in 1955. The Cold War tensions between different views of the how the social-political affairs of people should be organized may even today be detected at the border of Europe and the Russian Federation. Barbara Dilly comments on another tension in our being between the person who desires to live fully in the Way to which Jesus invites us and that aspect of our being which tends not to trust God and moves in the direction which we will for our lives wherein we know what is best for our satisfaction  and vitality.The psalmist, in the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary, praises God as the rescuer of the poor from the oppression of the evil doers. The Church has identified how people are oppressed and kept from their proper place in the world by the evil activities of both the controlled economies of Marx and Mao and the “free market” tyranny which results in a great divide between the “haves” and the “have nots” of the world. Our view of the world as dualistic, good or evil, black or white, God fearing or godless is a starting point to identify the tensions. Friar Jude Winkler comments on the dualistic nature of the Gospel of John. The vitality of Life in Christ is a journey which begins when we accept our mission to follow Him. John understands this as our initiation into eternal life. The rejection of this invitation is, by the thinking of John, the initiation of a life of death and separation from God. We live daily with the tensions which will pull us toward and away from the full vitality of Life in Christ. We are as committed as the Apostles before the Sanhedrin, in the text today from the Acts of the Apostles, that there is no choice of another Way. In the words of Peter to Jesus “You have the Words of Eternal Life”  (John 6:68) Our praise with the psalmist is confirmation of our trust in this truth.