Our Model Explained - Five

 

One In the Spirit

Phase Five of Our Model

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 16 You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 17 I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another. John 15:12-17 1 Therefore if you have any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Phil 1:1 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things. Phil 4:8 We are a group of Catholic men dedicated to building our faith and growing in fellowship with each other. Our goal is to be true disciples of Jesus - living our faith every day. To be an effective disciple of Jesus one must have a dynamic spiritual life. Such a spiritual life needs spiritual direction. Later, as Jesus was dining at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Him and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mtt. 9:

It is here within the One True Church … within our Diocese … within our Parish we have come together striving … to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received: with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,  and with diligence to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Eph. 4:2-6 In our time, because of the advancements in the medical sciences, we are acutely aware of how necessary it is that all the individual parts of the body stay healthy, fulfilling the function for which they were designed. A breakdown of just one of these parts will affect the wellbeing of the whole body. Jesus uses the image of body to describe the Church.  “I have given them the glory You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one— I in them and You in Me—that they may be perfectly united, so that the world may know that You sent Me and have loved them just as You have loved Me.” Jo. 17: - (A bond of Unity) St. Paul takes up this image of body in his teaching. “The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body.  So it is with Christ.” 1 Cor 12:12 Our Men’s Fellowship is a kind of apprenticeship, a medical internship; having completed our studies in the ‘school of prayer’ and accepted our “vocations given by Jesus” in the Body of Christ, the Church, we are now in a kind of practicum, learning how to promote unity within the Body of the Church. The ancient proverb, quoted by Jesus in Lk. 4:24 “Physician heal thyself” now applies to ourselves. If we are unable to be united in a small group, how will we be able to be healers in the greater Church – especially in these troubled times? Bonded to Jesus through our coming together in fellowship we become instruments of bonding in a broken world. DISCERNMENT: We learnt from St. Ignatius that when one chooses to be an Intentional Disciple of Jesus, they must embrace a true, dynamic spiritual life. “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” Gal. 2:20  A key element of the spiritual life is discernment. To serve is to know the will of the other. Through prayer we hear the voice of the Lord. But how do we know it is the Lord’s voice? This is where spiritual direction comes to help us discern. But it is not always possible to acquire such a spiritual director. For us the fulfillment of this need is met through our Bonded Fellowship. So when we meet, the central question at our Fellowship gathering is not, what is my opinion rather what is the Lord saying to us – what direction is He giving us?