Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Easter
The community of believers was of one heart and mind. Acts 4:32
Christianity is under attack. I was reminded of this again last week. Bishop Barron wrote a guest editorial in the Wall Street Journal, “Recovering the Strangeness of Easter.” Like most of Bishop Barron’s material, the article was contemporary, well-reasoned and engaging. I thought it was a nice little Easter message.” Then I noticed that there were 650 comments. I made the mistake of reading the most replied to. They were vicious attacks on God and Christianity, written by both unbelievers and people that seemed to have it out for the church. The comments contained a little bit hate, a little bit of ignorance, and unfortunately a little bit of truth, pointing out some of the inconsistencies in Christian beliefs and behavior.
Sometimes Christians make the worst witnesses to the resurrection of Christ.
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In the gospel (Jn 20:19-31), the disciples that Thomas encountered behind closed doors were horrible witnesses to the resurrection. They were locked in a room filled with fear. This is not a good way to witness to the resurrected life in Christ!
I could make the argument that Thomas was not a doubter. He was a skeptic. He entered the room “where the disciples were for fear of the Jews.” The disciples proclaimed, “We have seen the Lord.” At this point in the narrative, Thomas could have been thinking, “If you have seen the risen Lord, why are you still hiding in this room in fear of the Jews?!?”
Like so many people who have drifted away from the church, or who are now attacking the church, Thomas saw hypocrisy. Because of the inconsistency of what the disciples were saying – We have seen the Lord – and what they were doing – hiding in fear – he refused to believe.
Fortunately, the disciples went from cowering in fear to spreading the good news. Through their witness to the resurrection, they added new believers from all over the world.
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Today, as Christianity is on the decline and being attacked, we might ask: Why were the early disciples so effective in their witness? Or more to the point, what are we missing?
There are many ways to explore that question. I am just going to focus one verse. The Acts of the Apostles describe the early Christians this way: “The community of believers was of one heart and mind.” (Acts 4:32)
The people in the early centuries may not have chosen to become Christian because of what they heard, but because of what they saw. They saw a “community of believers of one heart and mind.” A second century historian said of the Christians, “See how they love each other.”
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Would you describe our “community of believers” in our parish as being of “one heart and mind? Or Catholics who have stopped coming to church? Or Christians of all religious denominations? Would the unbelieving observer on the street comment, “See how they love each other”?
Signs of discord can be found everywhere in our culture. With the click of a mouse, we can unfriend or unfollow a person. The term “Cancel Culture”, non-existent five years ago, is now part of our vocabulary. Unfortunately, this divisiveness is spilling over into our Church. It is easy to create distance from people who don’t share your beliefs.
The verse in Acts is a challenge to us as to who we are and what we need to become. As Christians, and as Catholics, we need to set as our goal to be of one heart and mind. We cannot be effective witnesses to the resurrection if we are not.
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One heart and on mind does not mean we have to agree on everything. This one heart and mind is not an ideology or a belief system. The ‘one heart and mind’ is a person: Jesus, come back from the dead so that the power of death may no longer have a hold on you. Jesus, who came so that we may have life and life in abundance.
In our interaction with each and in our witness to the world, we need to have the heart and mind of Jesus. On this Divine Mercy Sunday, we need place ourselves in that image, to have a heart saturating the world around us with the mercy of God.
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How can you cultivate the heart and mind of Jesus? How can you become a better witness to the resurrection? In the gospel where Jesus visits the disciples behind closed doors, there are several examples.
First, Jesus greeted the disciples with “Peace be with you.” You can enter any situation in your life with a peaceful attitude and bring peace not division.
Then Jesus breathed the Spirit upon the disciples. To have the heart and mind of Jesus means we breathe a Sprit of wisdom and understanding with others. To be wise and understanding means that when you find yourself with people who have differing beliefs or opinions, ask probing questions and listen. Wisdom and understanding come from trying to understand the point of view of the other, not to prove that we’re right. As the saying goes, “More people have been listened into heaven that preached.”
After giving the Spirit, Jesus said, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” To have the heart and mind of Jesus means to forgive. Many people feel alienated by the church because too often we focus on the sin, tag and label the person and move on. We fail to see beyond, a person of unequalled value created in the image and likeness of God.
Jesus finished his instruction to the disciples by saying, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Jesus sends the disciples not to the people who agree or share the same beliefs, but to those who don’t. In these various encounters, God provides an opportunity for each person to grow – should they be open.
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Be the Christian witness in the 21st century. Stop hiding in fear of the world. Venture forth, and eagerly share the heart and mind of Christ.
“We have seen the Lord!”