Homily for Second Sunday of Easter (B), Divine Mercy Sunday
Were the first Christians communists? Today’s first reading from Acts of the Apostles says that in the first community of believers, no one claimed any possessions of his own, but they held everything in common. If you teach Acts of the Apostles in a high school, when you get to this passage some kid will inevitably raise his hand and say, “So the apostles—they were communists, huh?”
Not quite. In fact, not at all. Under communism, there is no private property because the State owns everything. The situation described in Acts of the Apostles would not have been possible in a communist country because Christian believers would not have been free to buy or sell property, nor to choose where the proceeds from any sale might go. Under communism, there is no space for independent organizations in between the individual and the State—organizations such as the Christian Church. The early Church, in fact, was fiercely resistant to being controlled by the State. The early Christians would pray for the emperor and their civil rulers, but when they ran into conflict between the ruling authorities and the teachings of the Christ, they resisted the State’s commands even to the point of martyrdom. They opposed such noteworthy features of Roman society as the gladiatorial games, divorce, abortion and infanticide, and the worship of the emperor. Their conscientious resistance to the demands of State ideology remains relevant. The Church endures various forms of persecution under many regimes today—in Nicaragua, China, Vietnam, Cambodia—some of these regimes inspired by communism.
In fact, the description of the Church in Acts of the Apostles brings to the fore an aspect of Catholic Social Teaching which is crucial but often neglected—the importance of civil society. Civil society is made up of all of those forms of community, organizations, and ways of acting together that makes us more than simply individuals but at the same time are independent of the State. The Church and the family are the two most important elements of civil society, but these include things like private schools, soup kitchens, and even bowling clubs. About twenty years ago a book called Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam identified the breakdown of civil society, the breakdown of community, as a central crisis of American life. The disintegration of the family structure is part of the same phenomenon, and it is certainly not limited to the United States.
The consequences of the disintegration of community are bad for both individuals and society. We become increasingly isolated and lonely—technology contributes to this, too—and the State becomes more presumptuous; it takes up more of our lives, even our spiritual lives. Elections become more divisive because without civil society we expect too much from the State and the politicians who run it. We begin to expect politics to provide our hope and belonging. Our treasure gets invested in the wrong place.
During Holy Week, when we read the Passion narrative, we heard Jesus insist before Pontius Pilate, “My kingdom does not belong to this world.” What Jesus brings and what he offers to the world through the Church goes beyond what either the State or individuals can give. In today’s Gospel reading Jesus is concerned with authority. He gives the apostles the authority to forgive or to retain sins by breathing on them. It is a gesture that is both personal and intimate, yet full of authority. He sends his spirit, the Holy Spirit, into the community of believers to accomplish something supernatural. He offers divine mercy, a supernatural force that changes our reality.
And here, too, we can see another, even more profound reason why the Apostles were not communists—because communism is an ideology that promises, falsely, to create a utopia in this world. Jesus promises something that this world cannot give. At best the State can attempt to provide its citizens with justice, and even there all states fall short and always will. The kingdom of Jesus Christ, however, offers something else entirely—divine mercy.
In 2024, around the globe, about half of the world’s population will hold elections. Promises will be made, some kept, some broken; energy and resources will be spent, billions of euros and dollars; and the results will vary. These elections will be important, but they will not be everything. They will bring neither the end of the world, nor everlasting justice. They will not bring the reign of God. The kingdom of heaven is not of this world.
The kingdom of heaven will not get the same publicity and attention as these elections. But it will remain infinitely more important. And the emphasis that Catholic Social Teaching places on civil society invites us to consider something else that might change our viewpoint. As important as who guides the State might be, in the long run civil society—community—might be more important because it provides the place for us to form relationships that take us out of ourselves, that connect us with others in a personal and human way. Lived in the Spirit, such relationships just might be our access point to the peace that Jesus promises, a peace that is deeper, richer, and more lasting than illusions of earthly utopia.
When the first Christians sold their property to sustain and support the community of believers, they were making a real sacrifice. They were seeking not to create a communist state, but to build up the family of God. It was an investment in faith instead of illusion, and it was a down payment on the treasure the Lord promises us in heaven.
Readings: Acts 4:32-35; 1 Jn 5:1-6; Jn 3:14-21
April 7, 2024
Oratorio San Francesco Saverio del Caravita