Resurrection communes

Resurrection communes

by Chris Chatteris SJ

 

In a recent retreat preached to his fellow Jesuits, Fr David Neuhaus proposed a meditation on the way of life of the early Christian community described in the Acts of the Apostles. St Luke tells us that the community ‘held all things in common’ (Acts 4:32-36). It sounds like a spiritual commune or an early version of the religious life.

 

It’s all uplifting until we come to the part of the married couple, Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11), who are not included in the lectionary. These two try to have it both ways regarding the life of sharing in the Christian community. They sell a property for the common purse but secretly hold some of it back. Hence, they are honoured by the community that they are simultaneously cheating until they drop dead. Fr David’s interpretation is that they were, in effect, robbing God, and this is why they are struck down.

 

It’s an uncomfortable cautionary tale for everyone, not only religious who have taken vows of poverty. Mercifully, however, I haven’t noticed any religious dropping dead when they neglect to hand in the honoraria given to them by the people of God. However, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that religious life dies when ordinary life dies. It’s also true that when everyday life flourishes, religious life flourishes. Religious communities often refer to their material goods and other forms of capital as belonging to the Lord and his poor. So, if I, as a religious, am helping myself to the shared resources, then in a way, I am robbing the Lord and those for whom he has a special regard.

 

This is tragic because holding all things in common is one of the most beautiful attractions of religious life. It is something which draws generous and well-motivated vocations. These young people see a group of men or women who commit themselves to one another in a community of sharing for the sake of the Gospel. It is a powerful motivator to join if they find it.

 

The passage can hold meaning for everyone. On an everyday human level, we know from experience that sharing is life-giving while greed is death-dealing. You don’t have to be a Christian to accept this, and many non-Christian groups have also attempted to live in common and to share their resources for ideals such as the betterment of society.

 

In the final Christian analysis, sharing everyday life is intimately connected to the good news of the resurrection. Notice how the reference to the witness to the resurrection is woven into references to everyday life in the following relevant passage from Acts. 

 

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power, the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.” (Acts 4:32-35)

 

Sharing uplifts both the giver and receiver. For Christians, sharing within the body of Christ is a powerful sign of the Lord’s resurrection, and a firm belief in the resurrection is a fundamental motivation for sharing.


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