Scripture:
Galatians 2:1-2, 7-14
Luke 11:1-4
Reflection:
A Synod in Rome and One in Galatia
The Synod continues in Rome. It is a magnum opus, and we pray that, like at the first Pentecost, people of diverse languages understood the Spirit-filled preaching of the apostles, so may the voice of the Spirit again be heard and as effectively listened to.
To prepare the Synod, there was a two-day retreat at which Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, O.P. offered four meditations to the participants. The meditations are available at vaticannews.va. His theme was Searching in the Dark. Here are some of his thoughts.
Mary Magdalene went to Jesus’ tomb while it was still dark, John and Peter came later and looked into the darkness of the empty tomb. Each helped one another: Mary led the apostles to the tomb, John’s love pierced the darkness with the light of belief, and Peter, carrying the darkness of his failure would find in the empty tomb the victory that overcomes all failure.
The night of the Resurrection the disciples locked in a room are immobilized. Morning was dark because Jesus was not yet found, evening is dark because they are not yet filled with the life of the Holy Spirit. This Spirit will send the Church on its mission to speak boldly and humbly.
Night again appears as the apostles return to their role as fishermen. Have they given up being fishers of men? Worse yet, poor Nathaniel from Cana, not a fisherman is in the boat and two unnamed apostles. They have abandoned their calling and are just as poor at catching fish as they were when the gospel began! Mary is the untier of knots and Peter the mender of nets. It was hard for the apostles to recognize Jesus, but love faith, and hope bring light.
Fr. Radcliffe’s final meditation looks at the darkness that engulfed Peter. How well it is summed up. Peter said to Jesus as they sat at breakfast by the lake, “You know me”.
But it was a sad night when Peter, crying, fled the presence of Jesus having announced, “I do not even know the man”. Yet Jesus trusts Peter and entrusts the flock to him, although so far, he is untrustworthy. The Church is founded upon the rock of God’s unmerited trust in Peter. Can we trust each other?
Galatians also takes us to what we could call a synod. There is serious listening among the Pillars of the infant Church. A knot was untied, freeing the non-Jewish Christians to follow Jesus without the burdens of Jewish tradition. A community, neither Jew nor Greek, begins to appear.
Helping the poor will be a bond between the two groups. However, the reading ends by revealing that it was difficult, and problems and divisions will continue. Yet, from God who is compassion, forgiveness and unconditional love, we realize that we need discernment and clarification. What a better way to remember the Synod in Rome and our world in conflict than with the simple words of the Our Father, your Kingdom Come. Forgive us as we forgive those who wrong us.
Fr. William Murphy, CP is a member of Immaculate Conception Community in Jamaica, New York.