Word to the Wise
Tuesday, April 30, 2019 - 2nd Week of Easter - Tues
[Acts 4:32-37 and John 3:7b-15]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. With great power the Apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great favor was accorded them all. There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the Apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need. [Acts]
APRIL 30, 2019 [St. Pius V, o.p.]
This passage and and earlier one in the Acts of the Apostles [2:44-45] has inspired any number of movements within Christianity, including monasticism and other forms of religious life. Dominicans and Franciscans, for example.. Lay movements have also arisen from this inspiration. One of those lay movements, the Albigensians, a heretical group, was living according to the description in Acts, and St. Dominic aimed to install the same apostolic lifestyle in his followers as a way of combating the heresy, since the lifestyle of the preacher "preached" before a word was said!
If we "fast-forward" to our own times and the American style of life, the description in the Acts of the Apostles might be dismissed as an ideal or denounced as "communism!" Faith communities such as the Amish, Mennonites, Hutterites or Old World Baptists (Anabaptists)with their distinctive garb and communal life seem quaint to the consumer oriented and private property obsessed way of our culture. Students at the campus ministries I have served are either bemused or inspired by the rules of the Dominican Order (and others) to the effect that we do not actually own anything individually.
Before anyone dismisses the description of the early Christian community as "outdated" and "unrealistic," perhaps we should examine our own ways to see who might be living more in accord with the gospel and consider new ways of preaching by lifestyle! AMEN