Sixth Sunday of Easter, 2012
 
May I take this opportunity to announce the publication of my second book on Julian of Norwich.  My first book on Julian is called, "Julian of Norwich, a Mystic for the 21st Century".  This is really a commentary on her great work "Showings of Divine Love".  The new book is called, "All Manner of Things" and is a collection of reflections on the teachings of Julian.  It is available through Amazon.com.
 
In Hebrews chapter 4 we read: "The word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart."

One of the many wonderful things that virtually all of the Christian churches have in common is a love of the Bible and an acknowledgment that it is the Word of God.  This acknowledgment may be interpreted in various ways but inevitably it includes a belief and understanding that the words of Scripture are words of power and that somehow the Holy Spirit speaks through these words.  Now the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ and is given to us to remind us of all that Christ has taught us.
 
To be reminded ‘of all that Christ has taught us’ does not mean merely to remember it.  It means that the word of Christ is re-presented to us with the same veracity, power, authenticity and meaning that it had when it issued forth from his own lips.  It is living and active and sharper than any two edged sword.
 By living and active we mean that the word of Christ speaks to us today.  We acknowledge this when we stand for the Gospel and proclaim before it begins "Glory to you, Lord", and again when it is finished, "Praise the be to you, Lord Jesus Christ."
 
Listening to the Gospel is a two-way activity.  God does speak to us but we must listen to what he says.  We must hear him in faith.  Hearing him in faith is what we call synergy, that is an activity that involves the cooperation, if you will, of two persons.  God gives us the virtue of faith.  The word 'virtue' means a strength, a power, an energy.  So we have the power of faith, an energy which enables us to hear the Word of God not simply on a natural level but on a level that speaks to us "to discern the thoughts and intents of our heart and mind."
 
If we listen to the words of today's Gospel with our faith energy, we receive an extraordinary message.  Jesus prays very specifically for us when he says he is not only praying for his disciples but also, and I quote, "for those who will believe in me through their word."  He prays for us.  But this is an act of synergy, an act of two persons.  We must hear and respond in faith and the prayer of Jesus will be answered in us.  He prays that we may be one with him as he is one with the Father.  That we may be one with each other as he is one with the Father.  This indeed is the reason that we must love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  He goes on to pray that we may be brought to perfection as one so that the world may know that the Father has sent him and that the Father loves us even as he loved Jesus.  Think of what this can do for you when you accept it with the power, the strength, the virtue of faith.  Remember what the two disciples said on the road to Emmaus when Jesus appeared to them and explained the Scriptures.  "Didn't our hearts burn within us."
 
Whenever Jesus speaks of the future, he is reaching out to us.  And so he concludes his prayer, "I have made known to them (the apostles) your name, and I will make it known (to us, as we respond in faith).  And the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them."  To receive this prayer in faith will be life-changing.