Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday
Faith, life and Church
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 4,32-35
Today, the Acts of the Apostles tell us about the first church, that was formed in Jerusalem soon after Pentecost. It was a reality made up of a few faithful, that did not last because the persecution and diaspora started very soon, after which the early Christians were dispersed. But, though small and of short duration, it stands as the perfect church, and it is the early Christian community that the church of all times and places should continue to mirror for not losing its original values. That little church reality has it all: listening to the teachings of the apostles, the brotherly union, prayer together with the Eucharist, goods sharing, meals joyfully taken with simplicity of the heart, praise, joy and the appreciation from all the people. It is perfect. In time, the church has grown; it has grown in number, it has become a large river that flows between the slow and stately events of history, but it has also lost some of the purity it had at its spring, when the sun shone and played with the stones of the mountain. However, those original values, which have globally been somewhat lost, can be found in local communities and the family, which is the domestic church. On Sundays, when the families of our married children meet at our home after the celebration of the Holy Mass, we have lunch together after blessing the table and, while our grandchildren happily run around, we tell each other the events of the week, giving each other help and advice, we relive the spirit of the early church as described in Acts of the Apostles. It is nice to discover just how valuable these habits are and we can rejoice to see how considerably our wasted weekends have decreased. Today, there are more and more families who choose to spend the day dedicated to the Lord this way.