Which way are you moving? Are you converging or diverging?

You might be lost. You might not know where you are and where you are supposed to go. If that is the case, you might be on the move, but only wondering, or going around in circles, or just wasting energy to remain on the same spot! If you do not know where you are going, or forgot all about it, you cannot converge. And if you do not know from where you parted, or even if you forgot, then you cannot say that you are diverging.

St Luke narrates a beautiful illustration of converging and diverging. He wrote two books: one is his Gospel, the other is the Acts of the Apostles. The former is a story of convergence, the other is a story of divergence. In the Gospel of Luke we have the story of Jesus moving towards Jerusalem, the Holy City, together with His disciples. There He is beaten and killed like a victim of sacrifice. But there He also beats sin, death and the evil one. For the sake of the lost, like the two disciples of Emmaws, He is ready to distance Himself momentarily from Jerusalem; but only to bring back those who scattered into the one fold of an Eastern Community.

If you compare the concluding passages of Luke’s Gospel to the opening passages of the Acts of the Apostles, you find almost a repetition. Jesus’ mission in reaching Jerusalem as the humble, yet powerful, King of Kings, reaches its fulfillment. He is about to return to His Father; yet, before doing so, He instruct His disciples to wait until they are vested with power from on High. Once the Holy Spirit descend on them, they are to diverge to all the ends of the earth. So, the Acts of the Apostles, where we have that striking account of Pentecost, is the narrative of that rapid divergence, until the Gospel reaches Rome, which was considered the ends of the earth.

This week I shall be praying for you that the Holy Spirit may descend on you and enlighten you with a sense of direction in life. He will help you move in one direction with great joy and enthusiasm. All that is in you, your senses, your mind and heart, even all your energy, talents and possessions, including your relationships, need to converge to Christ, the One and Only Savior of humanity; He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. And if your existence has already came in touch, personally and intimately, with the Risen Lord, then, may the Holy Spirit compels you from the depth of your being to start diverging. So many people are waiting for your testimony. You are not to stay there, stuck to the same place and gazing in the sky. You are to diverge to the ends of the earth, if not physically spiritually through intercession, if not directly indirectly by the ripple effect, if not by leaving your home and your country from your home on the internet!