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The Chibi News Daily Reflection
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Welcome to the Anglican Parish of St Andrews Wimbledon. I'm Santosh, I serve as the vicar here
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A key question in the modern world is how do you bring different people together
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without those differences tearing us apart? Many people long for diversity but without division
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Unity without uniformity. It's fascinating to me how the very earliest Christian community
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brought together those from diverse social, cultural, educational backgrounds who were all gripped by the person of Jesus Christ
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Acts chapter 1 tells us when they arrived and went upstairs to the room where they were staying
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those present were Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew
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James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the zealot and Judas son of James
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Today as we consider the last two in that list, St. Simon and St. Jude, it striking to think how different these men may have been One perhaps known for nationalistic anti zeal The other came to be known as the patron saint of desperate causes And yet in following Jesus they were united in a common
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mission. Tradition has it that they went as missionaries to Persia and were there martyred
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together. Book of Acts continues to show how this message about Jesus spread from Jerusalem
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to Judea out to the ends of the earth. And even here in far away Wimbled, we find something similar
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People from very diverse backgrounds are united by the life and mission of Jesus
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I've often wondered to myself, what is it about Jesus that seems to have this power
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to unite very different people into a common mission? A mission that might even be worth suffering and sacrificing for
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St. Simon in St. Jude's day is an inspiring reminder that unity in diversity is possible
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though it probably won't be easy. We need a common cause by which to unite around
