Gathering to listen

Gathering to listen

Fifth Sunday of Easter – A – May 7, 2023

Who says the church doesn’t change? Today’s first reading shows us it can, but it also teaches us how. 

When conflict arose in the early church, the entire community with its leaders gathered to listen. The leadership then asked the community to call forth from among its own those whom it believed could address the need. With the community’s support and wisdom, the leaders prayed over those chosen and entrusted them to act, recognizing their necessary role within the community to serve the mission of proclaiming Christ.

The same Spirit guides us and is already changing us to be more generous and open with one another. The first step, as it was in the time of the apostles, is to listen. Click To Tweet

We are coming toward the final phase of a two-year worldwide church synod. This process has invited all of us to journey together to listen deeply to the Spirit in the hope of attending to the needs of the church today so that we might better proclaim the Gospel to the world. Throughout this process, many have indeed raised complaints like those in the early church, highlighting where the needs of some have been ignored.

Certainly, the church of the 21st century and its context are not the same as those of the apostles. And where this synod will lead is still unknown. But the same Spirit guides us and is already changing us to be more generous and open with one another. The first step, as it was in the time of the apostles, is to listen.

This post was first published in “GIA Quarterly: A Liturgical Music Journal.”
Image credit: Robert Kneschke.

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