Message from the Pastor Fr. Robert Tywoniak

Blessed Sacrament Church

All Christians have heard of Saint Paul. He is known as the greatest missionary ever. Paul convinced great numbers of people of the salvation that comes through Jesus Christ. He not only spoke and preached Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, he lived it. He died in the name of Jesus the Christ!

Yet the Apostles did not want Paul among them. The first reading for today (Acts 9) states this, “When Saul (Paul) arrived in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.”

Now what is that about?

Before being “turned around” by the Lord, Paul persecuted and prosecuted people who followed the Way of Jesus Christ. Paul put people to death for it! So, how did Paul eventually get in good with the Apostles?

A man named Barnabas “took charge of him.”

Barnabas was able to bring people together, calm them and help all to listen to each other and hear each other. Barnabas helped people of different cultures and ways of thinking to come together and reach mutual understanding. He was a bridge builder. Paul, the great intellect and forceful preacher needed Barnabas to complement him. This combination of personalities permitted the gathering of many people to be one in Jesus Christ.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus explains himself to be a vine, like a grape vine. The vine is the central structure of the plant that produces great amounts of fruit. From the vine comes many leaves and off shoots. Great clusters of grapes grow lushly and hang from the vine. But all these components connect back to the central structure.

The second reading, 1 John, makes the point that all the many people of the world come back to their center by saying this, “…we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us. Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit he gave us.”

The many of us living in the world today are called to unity. The one true God calls all His many different people together. We the people are many and different.

Each one of us, however, is important and valuable. We are all connected to the vine, Jesus the Christ. We just haven’t figured it out yet. Maybe Barnabas can help us out today.

Fr. Robert Tywoniak
Pastor