Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
“We are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:16). St. Paul compared our relationship to God the Father as children adopted by a father.
Adoption in Roman times is different than adoption in our day. Today, parents adopt an infant or toddler and raise the child as their own.
In the Roman world, a couple did not adopt a child to raise as their own. Rather, a couple without a competent heir would commonly adopt an adult servant or relative and make them the legal heir to carry on the family name and fortune. A former slave suddenly became a member of the family; what is more, he had a handsome inheritance to look forward to.
For example, the Roman emperor Julius Caesar adopted his eighteen year old grand-nephew Octavius. Eventually, Octavius carried on the family name and fortune when he became the emperor Caesar Augustus.
Our adoption changes our relationship with God. Through the gift of baptism, we have become adopted sons and daughters of God. God is not an impersonal force to appease. Rather, we can call out, “Abba, Father!” just as Jesus, the Son of God, did.
Our adoption changes our destiny. As adoptive children of God, we are heirs. We await a heavenly inheritance! By sharing in Christ’s suffering and cross, we share in his glory.
Our adoption changes our relationship with our neighbor, especially with the poor and stranger. It changes how we relate even to our enemies.
It was dusk on the bank of a river that curved from the sea to the mountain. The rabbi peered into the distance and turned to his students. “How will we know when the night is over and the day has begun?”
One of the students raised his hand and said, “Rabbi, we will know that the night is over and the day has begun when we can see the difference between a goat and a lamb.”
The rabbi shook his head. Soon, another student offered her hand and said, “Rabbi, I think the night is over and the day has begun when we can see the difference between a fig tree and an olive tree.” Again, the Rabbi shook his head.
The students pondered and gazed upwards where scattered stars and a half-moon replaced the sun and brightened the deep dark of the endless sky.
Finally, a student stood up. “Rabbi, I think we will know that the night is over and the day has begun when a rich man and a poor man meet and say, ‘Hello, my brother’.” The Rabbi smiled.
This story from the Babylonian Talmud intuits the truth of Trinity Sunday. Brothers and sisters to one another in Christ and adopted children of a compassionate Father, we are freed from living Me First: my
convenience first, my freedoms first, my interests first, my tribe first, and my nation first and before everybody else. We are freed from personal and political selfishness. We are freed to be brother and sister to all.
Pope Saint John Paul II wrote, “The communion of Christians with Jesus has the communion of God as Trinity, namely, the unity of the Son to the Father in the gift of the Holy Spirit, as its model and source, and is itself the means to achieve this communion: united to the Son in the Spirit's bond of love, Christians are united to the Father.”
In communion with the Father, Son, and Spirit, we suffer for one another as Christ suffered for us. Can brothers and sisters in Christ live in any other way?
In Christ,
Father David
NATIVITY UPDATE
“I was ill and you visited me.” If you know someone homebound, in the hospital, or in assisted living who would like to be visited by a Minister to the Sick, please call the parish office 407-322-3961. Once the Diocese allows members other than clergy to visit, we can bring them communion, prayer, and the parish bulletin!
If you have discerned a call to care for the sick, we have a Ministry to the Sick training on Sunday afternoon, June 6. The training is a chance for those who have visited the sick to get refreshed. For those who have thought about it and waiting for a sign, this is your sign. Now is the time to pick up the phone and answer the Lord! Contact Mary Nielsen nielsen.mary@att.net.
Please pray for our youth in their preparation to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation on Saturday, June 12.
The parish office is closed on Monday, May 31st, to observe Memorial Day. Daily Mass is at 8:30 a.m. as usual.