Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter (Acts 4:32-37) “The Common Good.” 2020

Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter (Acts 4:32-37) “The Common Good.”

Years ago, we had what were called Polaroid cameras.  Such cameras were considered cutting edge technology.  You took a picture.  You pulled the film out of the camera.  You waited about two minutes and you could see the picture you had taken.  It seemed miraculous fifty years ago. All of that seems crude today when we can take innumerable pictures on our cell phone and flash them around the world digitally. But we probably still have some of those old Polaroid pictures that remind us of departed family members and events that happened when we were younger.

In Biblical times, there were no cameras. Pictures had to be sketched with words.  Every once in awhile in the Acts of the Apostles there is a verbal picture drawn for us by the writer.  We see the early Christian community frozen in time. 

We have one of those pictures in the passage we read today.  What did that early Christian community look like?  We hear that they were of “one heart and mind” which sounds like a community that is steeped in charity. We can say we love our neighbor, but the words mean nothing without action.

The first Christians proved their love by sharing their possessions with one another.  In fact, it is said that they pooled all their property.  Now that really requires trust!

We need such trust today as we continue social distancing.  Americans are known to be rugged individualists.  Many people speak about “my rights.”  But there are certain moments when we must think of the common good of everyone.  Catholic teaching enshrines the idea of the common good as a social justice principle.  For a Christian the predominant pronouns our not I, me, and my, but the predominant pronouns are we and ours.

A picture is being taken of America for the world to see at the present time.  We pray it will be a photograph that shows a country full of love and charity?

Questions for reflection:

1. Do I accept the moral principle of the common good?  Does this teaching of the church guide my thinking as I practice social distancing right now?  Why or why not?

2. Do I see my possessions as my private property, or do I see what I own as something that belongs to God which I borrow from the Lord for a time? How did the early Christians see it?

Dear Parishioners,

            Remember that we will be having adoration of the Blessed Sacrament immediately after our 8 a.m. live streaming Mass on Wednesdays.  At 9 a.m. we will have benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.  The adoration we will have is most appropriate.  Adoration is meant to help us appreciate the mystery of the Eucharist.  We must remember that the Eucharist is not a thing, no, it is a sacramental action.  Adoration, if it occurs immediately after Mass, is a way of having an extended time of thanksgiving for Eucharist that has just been shared. This is the best form of adoration according to the rubrics of the church. Too often we leave church without an adequate time of reflection.  Take the opportunity tomorrow for some quiet time and thanksgiving.

            I have put out some daily missalettes by the back door of the rectory with the Easter Water.  The missalettes have been sitting in a box in our chapel.  It would be good to have them used for prayer.  Come and get one when you are out getting groceries or medications.  Hopefully, this will be a comfort at this difficult time when we almost everyone cannot attend Mass.

May our Blessed Mother an all the angels and saint watch over you today.

                                                                   Fr. Mark