Tuesday
2nd Week of Easter
1st Reading: Acts 4:32-37
The Way of Life of the Early Christians
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[32] Now the company of those who believed were one heart and soul, and no
one said that any of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had
everything in common. [33] And with great power the Apostles gave their testi-
mony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and greatgrace was upon them all.
[34] There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were posses-
sors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of what was sold
[35] and laid it at the Apostles' feet; and distribution was made to each as any
had need. [36] Thus Joseph who was surnamed by the Apostles Barnabas
(which means, son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, [37] sold a
field which belonged to him, and brought the money and laid it at the Apostles'
feet.
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Commentary:
32-37. Here we are given a second summary of the life of the first Christian
community--which, presided over by Peter and the other Apostles, was the
Church, the entire Church of Jesus Christ. The Church of God on earth was
only beginning, all contained within the Jerusalem foundation. Now every
Christian community--no matter how small it be--which is in communion of
faith and obedience with the Church of Rome is the Church.
"The Church of Christ", Vatican II teaches, "is really present in all legitimately
organized local groups of the faithful, which, in so far as they are united to their
pastors, are also quite appropriately called churches in the New Testament.
[...] In them the faithful are gathered together through the preaching of the Gos-
pel of Christ, and the mystery of the Lord's Supper is celebrated. [...] In each
altar community, under the sacred ministry of the bishop, a manifest symbol is
to be seen of that charity and 'unity of the Mystical Body, without which there
can be no salvation' ("Summa Theologiae", III, q. 73, a. 3). In these commu-
nities, though they may often be small and poor, or existing in the diaspora,
Christ is present through whose power and influence the one, holy, catholic
and apostolic Church is constituted" ("Lumen Gentium", 26).
32. The text stresses the importance of "being one": solidarity, unity, is a virtue
of good Christians and one of the marks of the Church: "The Apostles bore wit-
ness to the Resurrection not only by word by also by their virtues" (Chrysostom,
"Hom. on Acts", 11). The disciples obviously were joyful and self-sacrificing.
This disposition, which results from charity, strives to promote forgiveness and
harmony among the brethren, all sons and daughters of the same Father. The
Church realizes that this harmony is often threatened by rancor, envy, misunder-
standing and self-assertion. By asking, in prayers and hymns like "Ubi Caritas",
for evil disputes and conflicts to cease, "so that Christ our God may dwell among
us", it is drawing its inspiration from the example of unity and charity left it by the
first Christian community in Jerusalem.
Harmony and mutual understanding among the disciples both reflect the internal
and external unity of the Church itself and helps its practical implementation.
There is only one Church of Jesus Christ because it has only "one Lord, one
one baptism" (Ephesians 4:5), and only one visible head--the Pope--who repre-
sents Christ on earth. The model and ultimate source of this unity is the Trinity
of divine persons, that is, "the unity of one God, the Father and the son in the
Holy Spirit" (Vatican II, "Unitatis Redintegratio", 2). This characteristic work of
the Church is visibly expressed: in confession of one and the same faith, in one
system of government, in the celebration of the same form of divine worship,
and in fraternal concord among all God's family (cf. "ibid.").
The Church derives its life from the Holy Spirit; a main factor in nourishing this
life and thereby reinforcing the Church's unity is the Blessed Eucharist: it acts
in a mysterious but real way, incessantly, to build up the Mystical Body of the
Lord.
God desires all Christians separated from the Church (they have Baptism, and
the Gospel truths in varying degrees) to find their way back to the flock of Christ
-- which they can do by spiritual renewal, and prayer, dialogue and study.
34-35. St. Luke comes back again to the subject of renunciation of possessions,
repeating what he says in 2:44 and going on to give two different kinds of exam-
ple -- that of Barnabas (4:36f) and that of Ananias and Sapphira (5:1f).
The disciples' detachment from material things does not only mean that they
have a caring attitude to those in need. It also shows their simplicity of heart,
their desire to pass unnoticed and the full confidence they place in the Twelve.
"They gave up their possessions and in doing so demonstrated their respect for
the Apostles. For they did not presume to give it into their hands, that is, they
did not present it ostentatiously, but left it at their feet and made the Apostles
its owners and dispensers" (Chrysostom, "Hom. on Acts", 11).
The text suggests that the Christians in Jerusalem had an organized system for
the relief of the poor in the community. Judaism had social welfare institutions
and probably the early Church used one of these as a model. However, the
Christian system of helping each according to his need would have had charac-
teristics of its own, deriving from the charity from which it sprang and as a result
of gradual differentiation from the Jewish way of doing things.
36-37. Barnabas is mentioned because of his generosity and also in view of his
important future role in the spreading of the Gospel. It will be he who introduces
the new convert Saul to the Apostles (9:27). Later, the Apostles will send him to
Antioch when the Christian church begins to develop there (11:22). He will be
Paul's companion on his first journey (13:2) and will go up to Jerusalem with him
in connection with the controversy about circumcising Gentile converts (15:2).
Gospel Reading: John 3:7-15
The Visit of Nicodemus (Continuation)
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(Jesus said to Nicodemus,) [7] 'You must be born anew.' [8] The wind blows
where it wills, and you hearthe sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes
and whether it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit." [9] Nicode-
mus said to Him, "How can this be?" [10] Jesus answered him, "Are you a tea-
cher of Israel, and yet you do not understand this? [11] Truly, truly, I say to you,
we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen; but you do
not receive our testimony. [12] If I have told you earthly things and you do not
believe, how can you believe if I tell you Heavenly things? [13] No one has as-
cended into Heaven but He who descended from Heaven, the Son of Man. [14]
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man
be lifted up, [15] that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life."
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Commentary:
3-8. Nicodemus' first question shows that he still has doubts about Jesus (is
He a prophet, is He the Messiah?); and our Lord replies to him in a completely
unexpected way: Nicodemus presumed He would say something about His
mission and, instead, He reveals to him an astonishing truth: one must be born
again, in a spiritual birth, by water and the Spirit; a whole new world opens up
before Nicodemus.
Our Lord's words also paint a limitless horizon for the spiritual advancement of
any Christian who willingly lets himself or herself be led by divine grace and the
gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are infused at Baptism and enhanced by the Sac-
raments. As well as opening his soul to God, the Christian also needs to keep
at bay his selfish appetites and the inclinations of pride, if he is to understand
what God is teaching him in his soul: "Therefore must the soul be stripped of
all things created, and of its own actions and abilities--namely, of its under-
standing, perception and feelings--so that, when all that is unlike God and
unconformed to Him is cast out, the soul may receive the likeness of God; and
nothing will then remain in it that is not the will of God and it will thus be trans-
formed in God. Wherefore, although it is true that, as we have said, God is ever
in the soul, giving it, and through His presence conserving within it, its natural
being, yet He does not always communicate supernatural being to it. For this
is communicated only by love and grace, which not all souls possess; and all
those that posses it have it not in the same degree; for some have attained more
degrees of love and others fewer. Wherefore God communicates Himself most to
that soul that has progressed farthest in love; namely, that has its will in closest
conformity with the will of God. And the soul that has attained complete confor-
mity and likeness of will is totally united and transformed in God supernaturally"
(St. John of the Cross, "Ascent of Mount Carmel", book II, chap. 5).
Jesus speaks very forcefully about man's new condition: it is no longer a question
of being born of the flesh, of the line of Abraham (cf. Jn 1:13), but of being reborn
through the action of the Holy Spirit, by means of water. This is our Lord's first
reference to Christian Baptism, confirming John the Baptist's prophecy (cf. Mt
3:11; Jn 1:33) that He had come to institute a baptism with the Holy Spirit.
"Nicodemus had not yet savored this Spirit and this life. [...]. He knew but one
birth, which is from Adam and Eve; that which is from God and the Church, he
did not know; he knew only the paternity which engenders to death; he did not
yet know the paternity which engenders to life. [...]. Whereas there are two
births, he knew only of one. One is of earth, the other is of Heaven; one is of the
flesh, the other of the Spirit; one of mortality, the other of eternity; one of male
and female, the other of God and the Church. But the two are each unique;
neither one nor the other can be repeated" (St. Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang.",
11, 6).
Our Lord speaks of the wonderful effects the Holy Spirit produces in the soul of
the baptized. Just as with the wind--when it blows we realize its presence, we
hear it whistling, but we do not know where it came from, or where it will end up
-- so with the Holy Spirit, the Divine "Breath" ("pneuma") given us in Baptism: we
do not know how He comes to penetrate our heart but He makes His presence
elt by the change in the conduct of whoever receives Him.
10-12. Even though Nicodemus finds them puzzling, Jesus confirms that His
words still stand, and He explains that He speaks about the things of Heaven
because that is where He comes from, and to make Himself understood He
uses earthly comparisons and images. Even so, this language will fail to con-
vince those who adopt an attitude of disbelief.
St. John Chrysostom comments: "It was was with reason that He said not:
'You do not understand,' but: 'You do not believe.' When a person baulks and
does not readily accept things which it is possible for the mind to receive, he
may with reason be accused of stupidity; when he does not accept things which
it is not possible to grasp by reason but only by faith, the charge is no longer
that of stupidity, but of incredulity" ("Hom. on St. John", 27, 1).
13. This is a formal declaration of the divinity of Jesus. No one has gone up
into Heaven and, therefore, no one can have perfect knowledge of God's secrets,
except God Himself who became man and came down from Heaven--Jesus, the
second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Son of Man foretold in the Old Testa-
ment (cf. Dan 7:13), to whom has been given eternal Lordship over all peoples.
The Word does not stop being God on becoming man: even when He is on
earth as man, He is in Heaven as God. It is only after the Resurrection and the
Ascension that Christ is in Heaven as man also.
13. This is a formal declaration of the divinity of Jesus. No one has gone up into
Heaven and, therefore, no one can have perfect knowledge of God's secrets, ex-
cept God Himself who became man and came down from Heaven--Jesus, the
second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Son of Man foretold in the Old Testa-
ment (cf. Daniel 7:13), to whom has been given eternal lordship over all peoples.
The Word does not stop being God on becoming man: even when He is on earth
as man, He is in Heaven as God. It is only after the Resurrection and the Ascen-
sion that Christ is in Heaven as man also.
14-15. The bronze serpent which Moses set up on a pole was established by
God to cure those who had been bitten by the poisonous serpents in the desert
(cf. Numbers 21:8-9). Jesus compares this with His crucifixion, to show the
value of His being raised up on the cross: those who look on Him with faith can
obtain salvation. We could say that the good thief was the first to experience
the saving power of Christ on the cross: he saw the crucified Jesus, the King of
Israel, the Messiah, and was immediately promised that he would be in Paradise
that very day (cf. Luke 23:39-43).
The Son of God took on our human nature to make known the hidden mystery
of God's own life (cf. Mark 4:11; John 1:18; 3:1-13; Ephesians 3:9) and to free
from sin and death those who look at Him with faith and love and who accept
the cross of every day.
The faith of which our Lord speaks is not just intellectual acceptance of the truths
He has taught: it involves recognizing Him as Son of God (cf. 1 John 5:1), sharing
His very life (cf. John 1:12) and surrendering ourselves out of love and therefore
becoming like Him (cf. John 10:27; 1 John 3:2). But this faith is a gift of God (cf.
John 3:3, 5-8), and we should ask Him to strengthen it and increase it as the
Apostles did: Lord "increase our faith!" (Luke 17:5). While faith is a supernatural,
free gift, it is also a virtue, a good habit, which a person can practise and thereby
develop: so the Christian, who already has the divine gift of faith, needs with the
help of grace to make explicit acts of faith in order to make this virtue grow.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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