Present in community

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite contemplation of our experience of Divine Presence in community.

A summer community

The reading from the Letter to the Ephesians is the declaration of Paul that we are one in Christ.

* [2:11–22] The Gentiles lacked Israel’s messianic expectation, lacked the various covenants God made with Israel, lacked hope of salvation and knowledge of the true God (Eph 2:11–12); but through Christ all these religious barriers between Jew and Gentile have been transcended (Eph 2:13–14) by the abolition of the Mosaic covenant-law (Eph 2:15) for the sake of uniting Jew and Gentile into a single religious community (Eph 2:15–16), imbued with the same holy Spirit and worshiping the same Father (Eph 2:18). The Gentiles are now included in God’s household (Eph 2:19) as it arises upon the foundation of apostles assisted by those endowed with the prophetic gift (Eph 3:5), the preachers of Christ (Eph 2:20; cf. 1 Cor 12:28). With Christ as the capstone (Eph 2:20; cf. Is 28:16; Mt 21:42), they are being built into the holy temple of God’s people where the divine presence dwells (Eph 2:21–22).1 

Psalm 117 is the shortest of hymns. It calls on the nations to acknowledge God’s supremacy.

* [Psalm 117] This shortest of hymns calls on the nations to acknowledge God’s supremacy. The supremacy of Israel’s God has been demonstrated to them by the people’s secure existence, which is owed entirely to God’s gracious fidelity.2 

In the Gospel from John the encounter of Apostle St. Thomas with the risen Christ draws us to the blessings from revelation in community.

 * [20:29] This verse is a beatitude on future generations; faith, not sight, matters.3

Amy Hoover invites us all to consider how can we each be the reconciling, unifying presence of Christ today.

The response was to simply be a reconciling and unifying presence in the world in my world, in my daily life.  Look for those opportunities to reach beyond, but start in my daily life. An invitation to start in my community, my work place, my relationships.  Where can we be more accepting of one another? 
I don’t think this means that we have to agree on all things but maybe move toward the belief or choosing to believe (without seeing) that we are being called together to be a “dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”4 

Don Schwager quotes “Touching the wounds of Christ and healing the wounds of our unbelief,” by Gregory the Great (540-604 AD).

"It was not an accident that that particular disciple was not present. The divine mercy ordained that a doubting disciple should, by feeling in his Master the wounds of the flesh, heal in us the wounds of unbelief. The unbelief of Thomas is more profitable to our faith than the belief of the other disciples. For the touch by which he is brought to believe confirms our minds in belief, beyond all question." (excerpt from FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 26)5 

The Word Among Us Meditation on Ephesians 2:19-22 shares that these apostles were no less members of the household of God when they struggled with unbelief or weakness than when they became courageous heroes of the faith.

 This means that you are no less a member of the household of God when you are painfully aware of your own weakness and unbelief. In fact, that’s a great place to start because the more you know how much you need Jesus, the more open you will be to meeting him and receiving his grace. Look at Thomas: Jesus did not deny him the chance to touch his wounds. But he didn’t stop there. He called Thomas further, beyond his weakness and into deeper faith.6

Friar Jude Winkler explores the inclusion of Ephesians into an edifice that is a Temple for God. “Doubting Thomas” declares one of the strongest professions of faith. Friar Jude notes that our doubts often serve to cause us to reexamine and recommit to faith at a deeper level.

I greatly appreciate the communities I have experienced on my journey. The Presence of Christ is the experience that communities reinforce and expand. I may in contemplation, understand a Spirit of Presence and even in my daily encounters become aware of wisdom and guidance in a Spiritual way. The Presence in community comes to life through another person or persons. The universal (catholic) nature of God is reaffirmed when those different from us bring Christ in our community activities. The unity that seems to be absent among social, religious, political, and national groups today is Present when we are open to revelation of our brother and sisterhood in the same Spirit.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, draws from the Wisdom of Sufi mystics, Hinduism, Buddhists, a Jewish psalmist, Islam and Christianity. He notes action of Thomas Merton, Catherine of Siena, Charles de Foucauld, and Benedict of Nursia to assert that must we do whatever justice must be done in our own time.

 God is not contained in any one people, in any one kind of place, or in any one tradition. . . . God wills the care of the poor as well as the reward of the rich. . . . God wills the end of oppressors who stand with the heel on the neck of the weak. . . . God wills the liberation . . . dignity and full development of all. . . . God takes the side of the defenseless. And, thus, therefore, must the true contemplative, otherwise that contemplation is not real. . . . The true contemplative, the truly spiritual person, then, must do justice, speak justice, insist on justice.7

Connection with Christ in community is a call to convert contemplation into action for others.

References

1	(n.d.). Ephesians, chapter 2 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved July 3, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/ephesians/2
2	(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 117 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved July 3, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/117
3	(n.d.). John, chapter 20 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved July 3, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/20
4	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries - Creighton University. Retrieved July 3, 2019, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved July 3, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
6	(n.d.). Saint Thomas, Apostle (Feast) - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily .... Retrieved July 3, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/07/03/
7	(2019, July 3). The Path to Justice — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved July 3, 2019, from https://cac.org/the-path-to-justice-2019-07-03/