Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter
(Acts 4:32-37; John 3:7b-15)
When the archbishop of Buenos Aires went to Rome for the recent
papal election, his friends persuaded him to accept a new pair of shoes. Archbishop Bergoglio was not given to buying
new clothes but did go out of his way to bless the needy. He would have found himself at home in the first
Christian community as reported in today’s passage from the Acts of the
Apostles.
It is often said that the Acts of the Apostles paints an
idealized picture of the early Christians.
Although the reading today sounds almost too good to be true, the author
reports that not everyone is quite so magnanimous as St. Barnabas who gives the
sum of the proceeds from the sale of his house to the apostles. He also tells of a couple who retained for
themselves some of the money from the sale of their property. To whatever extent communal sharing is
actually lived in Acts, the author sees it as an outpouring of the grace of the
Holy Spirit.
Communitarian life, as most religious know, can be
daunting. Especially when we are
hurting, it is hard to see others’ needs as greater than our own. Yet as much as we can practice it now, we will
be prepared to enter the Reign of God.
