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Lent is the period of the Liturgical year in which we are called to examine our lives, our relationships, our hearts, to root out sin and bad habits, bad attitudes, anything that stands in the way of us being what Christ calls us to be. We do this through this the traditional / Scriptural acts of piety–prayer, fasting, and alms giving–but undergirding these acts must be hearts and minds centered on renewal. The acts of piety cannot change us without a heart felt conviction to change. And the place where the proverbial “rubber meets the road” in this Lenten renewal is in our reltionships with one another. The acts of piety make no difference if we donʼt get along with our neighbors. This is what weʼll discuss today on Deep in Scripture.
How do we get a handle on conflict? How do we live out our faith, our commitment to Christ, when we just canʼt seem to get along with others in the Church, or in our work, or frankly within our own families? In worship we stand and sit next to brothers and sisters in the faith, who have been sealed like us with the Holy Spirit in baptism, yet sometimes when we turn and greet each other in the sign of peace, our relational connection is no deeper than our surface smiles. What can we do? Well, this is what weʼll learn from St. Paul today on Deep in Scripture.
A very important, essential aspect of our being faithful followers of Jesus Christ— faithful members of His Body, the Church—is our interior holiness. As St. Paul stated in Chapter 4 of Ephesians, we are to “be renewed in the spirit of [our] minds” and we are to “put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” But for this internal conversion of heart and mind to truly make a difference, especially in our relationship with God, it must also change how we relate to one another in the Body of Christ. To paraphrase St. John, if we canʼt get along with each other, how can we expect to get along with God? This is what weʼll be discussing today on Deep in Scripture.
Deep in Scripture Live! Scripture passage for Wednesday, January 4th 2006
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.” John 15:4-7
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