Word to the Wise
Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - Tuesday in the Second Week of Easter
[Acts 4:32-37 and John 3:7B-15]The commnity 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.
This description and one other (Acts 2:42-47) of the early Christian community in today's first scripture from Acts of the Apostles have had a lot of influence. The "apostolic life" has inspired many individuals over the course of Christian community to form communities that "hold all things in common" and devote themselves to prayer and proclamation. St. Augustine refers to it in his rule. St. Dominic was directly inspired by these passages in his founding of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) in the 13th century. The same passages had inspired the heretical movement, the Albigensians, whose influence he sought to counter. He and his early companions adopted the Rule of St. Augustine which refers to the primary purpose of the common life as "to live together with one heart and mind in Christ." I don't know if I've ever seen a comprehensive study of efforts to live out the "apostolic life" in this country. There are some notable historical and present examples: The Shakers (nearly extinct now), Amish, Hutterites, and some other groups descended from the Anabaptist movement of the Reformation. There are, of course, all the Catholic religious orders that generally own all things in common. Celibacy is not essential to the apostolic lifestyle, but is common to it. Authority structures also vary. The Catholic Worker House movement begun by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin might be another prominent example. The point to the community is not economic but a matter of love of God and neighbor. Community life is not idyllic, as even the Acts of the Apostles demonstrates in more than one place. It has its tensions and stresses. The "evangelical" motivation has to sustain it when human nature gets a bit raw, since fundamental securities come into play: material security, personal relationships, freedom of action! In our day, what are called "gated" communities are scarcely communities at all but rather are, as Bellah refers to them in HABITS OF THE HEART, "lifestyle enclaves." The purpose of Christian community is not to promote a standard of living but the love of God and neighbor. They don't just "happen," they require a lot of work. The results can be a powerful preaching. AMEN
config
view
logs
4096.0 KB
56 ms
4
