Twice in Acts Saint Luke wrote short paragraphs describing the life of the early Church. These short vignettes serve as models for how the Church in every age should live together as a community of believers. Let’s look in detail at how the early Church followed Christ:
“They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers” (Acts 2:42). The early Church centered around the teaching of the apostles (which they themselves had received directly from Jesus), to living together as a united and faithful community, to the celebration of holy mass (the breaking of the bread) and to growing closer to God through prayer.
“Awe came upon everyone, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles” (Acts 2:43). The early Church believed in miracles and witnessed miracles. God performs miracles for those who place their trust in Him. The Church believed and lived in a state of holy awe that comes when God works in our lives.
“All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one’s need” (Acts 2:44-45). “There was no needy person among them” (Acts 4:34). The early Christians took care of each other. They regarded their possessions not as their own but as gifts from their Heavenly Father, to be shared as the Holy Spirit led them.
“Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area and to breaking bread in their homes. They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people” (Acts 2:46-47). They prayed together, they celebrated the sacraments together, they ate together and enjoyed fellowship with one another. Their love of God and one another was a source of joy and drew people to them.
“The community of believers was of one heart and mind” (Acts 4:32). Division and conflict will emerge later in Acts. As a community of fallen but redeemed people, the Church will not be free of all division until Christ comes again in glory. But fundamentally, the early Church was of one heart and mind, sharing a common creed, sharing the same sacraments, and following the apostles as the leaders chosen by Jesus. In this they fulfilled the Lord’s prayer at the Last Supper, for the unity of the Church that is necessary for the conversion of souls: “I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me” (John 17:20-21).
“With great power the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great favor was accorded them all” (Acts 4:33). The early Church boldly proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus. This is the Good News that changes everything and calls souls to conversion.
It is hard to overstate how radically counter-cultural the early Church was, not merely in their beliefs, but in the way they took care of each other. Helping the poor was not a part of Roman culture. They believed the rich had earned their wealth and the poor deserved what little they had. They did not see all things as gifts from God, nor did they see themselves as stewards rather then owners of their wealth and goods. By contrast, “every week, in churches across the Roman world, collections for orphans and widows, for the imprisoned, and the shipwrecked, and the sick had been raised. Over time, as congregations swelled, and ever more of the wealthy were brought to baptism, the funds available for poor relief had grown as well. Entire systems of social security had begun to emerge. Elaborate and well-organised, these had progressively embedded themselves within the great cities of the Mediterranean.” (1)
Nothing exemplified Roman disdain for the weak and vulnerable more than the practice of infant exposure. Every newborn child was at the mercy of their father, who, if he did not want the child, would leave the child abandoned in the countryside, to starve or be food for the wolves. Christians took it upon themselves to rescue these children, adopt them, and raise them in the faith: an act of loving defiance amidst a cold and callous culture. (2)
Jesus said at the Last Supper, “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). The Church’s unwavering care for the poor undoubtedly attracted people to join their community.
Could the Catholic Church today, ministering to a billion souls worldwide, resemble the early Church? I believe we could, but it would likely have to happen on a parish-by-parish level. The early Church was a small community of believers. Even as Paul and other disciples spread the Good News to other communities in the Mediterranean, the early Church would remain small groups of believers, encouraging and caring for one another, growing closer to their Risen Lord in a world that was indifferent at best and hostile at worst. Each of our parishes is likewise a relatively small community of believers. Can we devote ourselves to the sacramental life within those communities? Can we take care of each other? Can we enjoy fellowship together? Can we worship with one heart and one mind? Can we bear witness to the resurrection of Jesus? And if we do so, can great miracles happen?
Sunday mass is an essential part of our Catholic faith. But if we want to build up the Church through our parishes, if we want to resemble the early Church, we have to get more involved in our parish life, through events that promote fellowship and ministry to the poor. I’ve yet to encounter a parish that does not offer a wide variety of ministries, yet many do not get involved with these opportunities for spiritual growth.
What was the fruit of a community that lived as the early Church did? “And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47).
Notes:
1. Tom Holland, Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World (2019), pages 139-140.
2. Ibid., pages 143-144.
Image: The Last Supper by Fritz von Uhde (downloaded from Wikipedia Commons).
Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet every day for the salvation of souls.
