Greetings ! Happy 6th Sunday of The Easter Season !

The theme for our readings is : Diversity in Unity.

Here is the commentary from our Saint Joseph Sunday missal:

“The founders of any endeavor cannot expect their work to be lasting and to continue unless their disciples accept their message wholeheartedly. Those disciples must be faithful to the traditions of the founder and have an open mind for the intuitive vision concerning the future of a particular work. Guided by the spirit of the founder, those who continue the work must operate creatively, constantly adopting themselves to new situations. This is what the early church has tried to do as we see in the readings from the Acts of the Apostles on the Sundays of this Easter Season.

“Jesus’ disciples knew their mission was to preach the Gospel to all the nations (Mt. 29:19). Today we will read that Philip took the “Good News” to Samaria. The apostles in Jerusalem heard about this and were rather surprised. Jews and Samaritans did not socialize (Jn 4:9). We notice the same surprise when the first Roman joined the church (Acts 10:45+). Indeed, this going the boundaries of traditional Judaism was a daring and creative step!

“From that moment on the Church has had the task to accept diversity in its bosom and guard unity in the Spirit. That is why the apostles went to Samaria to impose hands on the converted Samaritans as a seal of approval. ‘And they received the Holy Spirit’ (First Reading). We should accept the same situation in the church of our time and culture. ‘There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit’ (1 Cor 12:4). There are charismatics, floating parishes, conservatives and liberals. We have young and old emotionally involved and more cerebral members in one congregation. Let us bear with one another, as long as the same Spirit breathes upon all under the guidance of our bishops.”

Out theme: “Diversity in Unity.” We may have diverse (very different) point of view, opinion and beliefs., but guided by The Holy Spirit we maintained our unity and love for each other.

In the Gospel today, The Lord said: “If you love me, you will obey my commandments. I will ask The Father, and He will give you another Helper who will stay with you always. He is The Spirit of Truth.”

In the family, if it’s members are obedient to The Lord, they will have The Holy Spirit as the unifying force that will guide its member. Each may have very different political or religious belief, but they don’t quarrel. Lead by the “Spirit of Truth” they maintained their unity and love for each other. There is unity in recognizing each person’s inherent (inborn) rights to form his own opinion.

In our company, we have employees from the Catholic faith, Protestant of different denominations, Born Again, Iglesia ni Kristo, Dating Daan, and some others. We respect each other’s belief. In our weekly Sacred Truth Study (Bible), we focus on the moral and spiritual teachings of the readings.

Last year, several weeks before the national election, we allow each employee to express his own political opinion with his or her choice of candidates in one of our general assembly meeting.

However, we are one with The Lord about the two most unifying commandments , namely:

1. Love God with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your strength.

2. Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Pentecost — The Festival celebrating the coming down of The Holy Spirit is only two weeks away, June 4, and this is also the climax of the Easter Season Festival.

Happy 6th Sunday of the Easter Season Festival !

Rejoice !

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