Of One Heart and Mind
The American political field has become so polarized that our elected officials cannot
even find the common ground. Decisions ought to be made in light of what will further the
common good. It is self-interest and big money that is far too often behind the decisions our
elected officials make. In our Catholic Church, we have allowed such polarization to occur since
Vatican II. We are from the early Christian Community described in the first reading from the
Acts of the Apostles. “The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one
claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common, (Acts
4:32).” What would these early Christian say to us today? I don’t think their words would be
harsh or condemning. They would call us to what is essential about being a community of
believers.
They would ask us the following questions: 1) Is the mission of Jesus Christ the central
action of our parish? 2) As a community of believers, do we give witness to the resurrection of
the Lord Jesus? 3) Do we break bread together and pray together—the emphasis is on the “we?”
4) How do we treat the poor among us? 5) How willing are we to suffer for the sake of the
gospel?
When we look into the early Christian community we see that evangelization is the top
priority. The apostles went daily into the greater community to preach Jesus as crucified and
risen. “But many of those who heard the word came to believe and the number grew to about
five thousand, (Acts 4:4).” Evangelization is essential to the life and the growth of a faith
community? For the past several years, we have awoken to the importance of evangelization.
Bearing witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus was at the heart of this early
community. As it was true for them it is also true for us today. A few weeks ago I baptized
Nathan Joseph about fifteen minutes after he was born. Nathan lived for twenty-four hours. A
week later on a Saturday morning I celebrated his funeral. His parent wrote this in the order of
worship. “Nathan taught us some profound lessons. He taught us about life without saying a
word. With just his eyes, he said, ‘I love you.’ He trusted unconditionally the first time he met
you. Without effort, he was perfect…We thank God for blessing us with him.” This is giving
witness to the resurrection of the Lord.
The apostolic community devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the
communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers. When we come together, we
have to become more aware of breaking bread together. This is doing what Jesus asked at the
Last Supper—“Do this in memory of me.”
The early church suffered greatly for the sake of the gospel. It is not that as a parish
community we go looking for suffering, but when suffering for the sake of the gospel comes,
are we willing to embrace it? They knew that in embracing the suffering for the sake of the
gospel they were participating in the suffering of Jesus Christ.
The treatment of the poor was a hallmark of the early community. The Acts of the
Apostles tells us that there was no needy person among them. Service to the poor and care for
them is the mandate of our founder—Jesus, Son of God.
These five areas would be the points the early community of believer would have us
seriously
reconsider. It is also these five points that Pope Francis is calling to Church
today to embrace. If you will, it is
returning to the basics of being a Christian community.