Reflection on the Fifth Sunday of Easter

In reflecting on our first reading for this, the fifth Sunday of Easter, we notice how the early church solved a very important issue. Of course, the number of people who were part of the community at that time was quite small compared to the present population of the church. All the same, how can we today involve, if not all members at least more members, in being attentive to the Holy Spirit and pooling the wisdom of the faithful in determining the future vitality of the church. An example of this was the synod that Pope Francis called several years ago to see how the Holy Spirit might inform the church so that Eucharist could be provided for the millions of people in the Amazon who are not given that opportunity because of a shortage of priests. Unfortunately, some of the hoped for changes are still waiting to be implemented. On the other hand, there are many within the church who were dead set against any of those proposed changes. Tradition and dogma superseded finding a way to meet the real needs of deprived people.