.....Of One Heart & Mind

Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter

Acts 4:32-37

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.

I'm completely and totally exhausted today!  Turns out the month of April will be just as busy as the month of March.  I'm piled high with work at the office.  I've been invited to several church and family events.  On top of all this, the house needs much-needed maintenance.  Next week just so happens to be my birthday.  I'm trying not to think too much about growing a year older....

We read this passage from the Acts of the Apostles on Divine Mercy Sunday.  Scripture passages repeat themselves frequently during the Easter Season as well as other times of the year.  The Church likes to emphasize important themes.

Christians as a community of believers should be of one heart and mind.  They should care of one another; think of the needs of one another; spread the good news to each other.  We are all part of the body of Christ. No part is better than the other.  No part is necessarily more deserving than the other.  We are all equal in the eyes of the Lord. 

 Our broken society likes to sell the idea that individualism will get a person further in life.  Follow your dreams!  You can do it all by yourself!  Be more confident!  Strike out the competition!  Be the best!  As a result, people tend to look more inwardly than outwardly.  

I think of the ages past when we lived in a rural American society.  Families in farming communities worked together to till the land, feed the animals, and harvest the crop.  They shared the produce of their labor with each other.  If a person didn't help out on the farm, he or she didn't eat.  It was expected that the farming community support one another.  They needed to in order to survive.

 Now we live in an urban society where everything is electronic and digital.  We no longer have to grow our own cotton  and weave it into a dress by hand.  We just order a dress online and have it shipped to our homes.  We can spending hours and hours texting, tweeting, and facebooking with our "friends" in a virtual environment.   However, many people secretly crave a real community to interact with; real flesh and blood, not avatars and doctored up photos!  

A real community can be found in the Catholic Church!  It can take a person a while to select a parish home he or she feels the most comfortable.  I was a member of three different parishes, visiting many in between, before I discovered St. Joseph as my spiritual home.  Every time I even think about leaving my parish community and the beautiful people I've met over the years I simply can't do it.    I've been a member there for 10 years in November, and I still love it.  

Bear witness as disciples of Christ of one heart and one mind!

-J.