Meeting disciples

Meeting Disciples

I met a disciple of Jesus recently. It was a Saturday afternoon and, by chance, I happened to be in conversation with him. He told me of someone who had hurt him in the past and the dilemma he faced in knowing that he was going to meet this person again. What should he do? In his heart he knew that the right thing to do was to forgive but could he do it?

He told me of how he received support from his community. He had spoken to members of his community about his dilemma. They listened to him, understood him and prayed for me. “Amazingly,” he said, “in the end it was easy. When I saw him I just wen up to him, shook his hand and forgave him. But it took a while for me to get to that point.”

As I listened to this man tell this story and other stories about things he was doing it became evident that the central influence in this man’s behaviour was his relationship with the risen Lord. It shaped the way he lived, the decision he made, the things he said and the things he did. And it occurred to me that I was in the presence of a disciple of Jesus.

During the season of Easter we are invited to focus our attention of the Spirit of Jesus and how the Spirit is active in our lives and in our world. At Pentecost we pray for the outpouring on the Spirit on our community. As I reflect on that Saturday afternoon I am aware of the activity of the Spirit. The Spirit was active in man who forgave. The Spirit was active in his faith community that supported him. And indeed the Spirit of Jesus was active in me as I listened. You see, I probably meet disciples of Jesus everyday of my life but, to tell you the truth, I don’t always notice. Somehow, on that Saturday afternoon, I had the presence on mind to listen to what was being said to me and to notice that this man was indeed a disciple of Jesus.

The Spirit of Jesus, sent by the Father, is alive and active in our faith communities and in our world. Where do you notice traces of the Spirit at work? Traces of the Spirit can be found in the beauty of creation. Traces of the Spirit can be found in human relationships. Traces of the Spirit can be found in the struggle to create situations in which all people can fulfil their God-given potential. There are all sorts of places where traces of the Spirit of Jesus can be found. Where have you found traces of the Spirit? The season of Easter and Pentecost is a time to be noticing traces of the Spirit in our world and to invite the Spirit into our lives, our families and our communities that we might live as the community of disciples of Jesus: the Church.

Andrew McNally
 


Welcome to the website of the Archdiocese of Armagh.

Our diocese of sixty-one parishes, from four counties, North and South of the Border, is knitted together closely to form the historic local Church of Armagh. As a diocese we seek not only to be faithful to the message of Jesus Christ himself, but also to embrace the challenges of the present and to look forward with confidence to the opportunities of the future. We strive to do this primarily by reflecting the healing love of Christ and the Truth of his Gospel through the ministry of his Church in the various parishes and pastoral agencies you will find outlined in this website.

I pray that visitors to this site may find the information it contains, the aspirations and resources it promotes, useful in helping to understand the mission of the Archdiocese of Armagh in building up the Kingdom of God in the twenty-first century.

We place it under the protection of Mary, Mother of the Church, who advised us to do whatever her son, Jesus, tells us. We invoke the help of the Patron Saints of the diocese, Patrick  and  Brigid, Malachy and Moninne  and the martyrs, Oliver Plunkett and Patrick O'Loughran,  that this website may prove to be of great help to all who strive to follow Christ faithfully.
 
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