Remaining Unified

Homily for Saturday of the Second Week of Easter

Last Sunday, the reading that we proclaimed from the Acts of the Apostles began with the words: “The community of believers was of one heart and mind…” It is, therefore, somewhat upsetting to begin today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles with a completely different viewpoint: “As the number of disciples continued to grow, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews…” Within the space of two chapters from this particular book of the New Testament, I have to ask the question, “What happened to the community that was of one heart and mind?” Did the complaints that we hear of today happen simply because the community had grown larger? Did the community change because it now consists of both Jews and Gentiles? I cannot help but also ask about the fact that the complaints seem to revolve around the issue of food. Perhaps someone was getting too much which usually means someone else was not getting enough.

Whatever the reason, it is important for us to realize that the early Christian community had its difficulties just as the Christian community of the 21^st century has its difficulties. Reaching a consensus is no easy task. Though I have no knowledge of what went on in your discussions this past week, I feel somewhat confident that your decisions were based upon a consensus of the community.

Yesterday, we began to read from the sixth chapter of the Gospel of St. John, the chapter that is often called the Discourse on the Bread of Life. Unlike the synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of St. John does not indicate the number of people that were fed with the loaves and fishes. St. John simply states that a large crowd had followed Jesus into a deserted place. As we read through the chapter in the coming days, we cannot help but notice that the large crowd eventually becomes no one other than the twelve apostles. The words of Jesus about his body and his blood being the food that sustains us while we are on this pilgrimage that we call human life were not readily accepted by the crowd. Currently, the bishops of the United States are calling upon us to revitalize and renew our commitment to the Eucharist. While it is a goal that is something we would all appreciate, I am sure that the current climate of the Catholic community will complicate this issue.