Psalm 118:22 - The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone - Jesus - the Christ - The Risen One - rejected by the priests - Sadducees - would not accept the fact that Jesus had risen from the dead. The disciples - filled with the Holy Spirit - could not keep quiet about the resurrection - as word grew - these few disciples - sharing their message with hundreds - thousands - grew the Church. As all buildings have a cornerstone - that first brick - rock - creates the starting point that additional bricks follow. As in all construction - be it a building - any project - there is always a starting point. The Church was no different - Jesus - that starting point that led the way for the Christian faith.
For those of us who call ourselves Christians - as our lives were formed - developed - at some point our spiritual formation was begun. Most as young children formed by the faith - efforts - of our parents. As we grew - the point in time finally arrived when we continued the process started for us - growing into mature adult Christians. Each step of the way - building blocks added - to the point where we are today. The first stone - laid by parents - the next stones - blocks put in place by relatives - family - friends. Finally - blocks added by the Church - its ministers - a community which helped form us into the faithful people that we are today. An old African saying - it takes a village to raise a child - same for our development as a person of faith - it takes a faith community to raise us to maturity in our beliefs. As we look back on our development - we see that first stone - laid for us - thousands of years ago - by Jesus.
Deacon Dale
