RENEWsletter for May 2, 2010 - 5th Easter

Dear Renewed Friends--
I was using my laptop at work which I had plugged into its AC adapter and was computing merrily away when all of a sudden a window popped up telling me I should switch to AC power, or save my work and shut down because the battery was critically low. But... but... I thought I was on AC power already! I'd plugged the line into the back of the computer. Oh wait! The other end of that cable was not plugged into the wall. Once I got that corrected, the warning window went away and my computer was happy again. With a renewed power source to feed it, there was no danger of losing work.

Faith sharing groups, Bible studies, daily or weekly mass... these are all ways to recharge our batteries. I look forward to worshiping with my friends each week, and "plugging in" to that heavenly power supply. It is definitely a time of renewal for my spirit.

This Sunday's readings, coincidentally enough, are about that very concept: Renewal. Those readings, for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, are found on the web at: http://www.usccb.org/nab/050210.shtml, and in your Bible at:

Acts 14.21-27
Psalm 145.8-9, 10-11, 12-13 (with v. 1 for the response)
Revelation 21.1-5a
John 13.31-33a, 34-35

We pick up, in the First Reading, with Paul and Barnabus as they complete their First Missionary Journey. They had just left Derbe and made their way back through the cities where they had so recently started churches: Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch in present-day Turkey (not yet to the Antioch in present-day Syria where they began this mission trip) (Acts 14.21). "They strengthened the spirits of the disciples" (v. 22) in each new church. This included Lystra where Paul had been stoned (mentioned in the earlier part of chapter 14) and left for dead! The new Christians were renewed in their faith by Paul's return and he told them "It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God" (v. 22 again). Eventually they made their way back across the sea to the Syrian Antioch and reported to the disciples there on all the churches they had set up (v. 27) with their own local religious leaders along their route (v. 23). The official reading doesn't include verse 28, but there's where the missionaries' renewing takes place. They spent "no little time" with the disciples.

I can just hear Paul and Barnabus, as they walked along those Roman roads, singing this Sunday's Psalm... "I will praise your name forever, my king and my God" (Ps. 145.1), "and your dominion endures through all generations" (v. 13). The unending praise and the eternal dominion go on and on -- they are a source of constant renewal.

In the Second Reading we find that even the earth and sky will be renewed (Rev. 21.1). A loud voice proclaims "God's dwelling is with the human race... and God himself will always be with them" (v. 3). Then the One who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new" (v. 5). In that glorious time, nothing will get old, bones and cartilage will never wear out, boredom will never set in, and we will never again need recharging.

But what about enduring until that time? The Gospel Reading shows us how. Jesus said, "I give you a new commandment: love one another... as I have loved you" (John 13.34). Love endures. Love abides. Love forgives. Love constantly renews our spirits. With this kind of everlasting love in our hearts, we look strange to those about us who don't know Christ. And in fact, this is how they recognize us as disciples of Christ... by our love (v. 35).

This week why don't we leave our AC adapters (our "Alleluia Chorus" adapters?) plugged in. Plugged into the love of God among each other. That way we'll be constantly renewed and never have to run on batteries.

Randy Jones
"Those who cannot love say their battery is dead!"