Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday
(Acts 4:32-35; I John 5:1-6; John 20, 19-31)
The readings today probably sound familiar to us. Every year
on this second Sunday of Easter we hear the gospel of St. Thomas doubting the
resurrection of Jesus. Also every year we listen to a portion of the Acts of
the Apostles that tells of how the early community of Jerusalem lived. Today we
are going to focus on that community, trying to understand why it is included
with the resurrection story.
Along with Jesus' death on the cross the New Testament
emphasizes his resurrection from the dead. St. Paul writes to the Corinthians
that he preached to them “first of all” both cross and resurrection. It is not
only because the resurrection of Jesus gives us hope of overcoming death that
the Church proclaims it “first of all.” It is also because the resurrection has
made us better people. The Acts of the Apostles bears testimony to this in
stories of the first Christian community (although this name
"Christian" was not yet used) of Jerusalem.
Today's reading from Acts says that the community “had one
heart and one soul.” The time is just a little after the resurrection,
ascension, and the coming of the Holy Spirit in the history of Luke, the writer
of both the third Gospel and Acts. Luke means that these events impacted the
believers in the resurrection so much that they changed their attitude and actions.
Four new behaviors can be noted from these changes. First, they prayed for each
other using new prayers like the “Our Father.” Second, they gathered in their
homes to “break bread” making present the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary that
justified them despite their sins. Third, they heeded the teachings of the
apostles which explained how Christ fulfilled the Scriptures and prescribed the
appropriate response to him. Finally, they lived communally, sharing their resources
so that no one had too much or too little. Luke uses the Greek term koinonia
for this quality that draws so much attention today.
Koinonia means communal friendship or communion.
Along with the sharing of resources the New Testament indicates two other ways
of having koinonia. The different communities of Christians recognize
the legitimacy of each other. Paul says in his Letter to the Galatians that
when he and Barnabas managed to convince the apostles that the uncircumcised
members of the communities they formed were truly Christians, they receive the
hand of koinonia from Peter, James, and John. Today Pope Francis has tried to
achieve koinonia especially with the Orthodox churches but also with Protestant
communities.
Another dimension of koinonia is the sharing of resources
among people and communities. Many times in his letters Paul refers to the
collections he made among the Greeks for the Christian community in Jerusalem.
Today we call this type of support “solidarity.” Possibly the Jerusalem
community was having economic problems because its way of sharing resources was
not working well. Anyway, Acts reports difficulty with sharing almost from the
beginning. It tells of one couple who committed fraud by not submitting all the
payment they received from the sale of a property as they indicated they would
do.
The attraction of greed and other vices remains in our
hearts. The Holy Spirit who has come to us with the ascension of Jesus will
help us resist it, but we must always ask for more assistance from the Lord. The
recent film “Cabrini” shows how with determination and prayer one can overcome
even more challenging adversaries.
Our celebration of the Lord's resurrection has given us the
grace to change vices into virtues. Let us believe in this event with all our
hearts. Let us also never fail to ask
for more help from the Lord Jesus.
Finally, let us strive to be better people everyday.
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