5th Sunday of Easter
In this post-Easter period, the Book of the Acts of the Apostles provides us with the principal reading of the day. This book was written by St. Luke, the same one who wrote the Third Gospel. In fact The Acts of the Apostles began life as Part 2 of Luke's Gospel, a book that would today be called something like: "A History of the rise of Christianity." It was written around 64 A.D. and this particular section refers to the young Church at Jerusalem where James was leader. James would later write: 'Faith without good quite is quite dead.' Luke sets out to tell us how the young church developed, how disputes were settled, how leaders were appointed, how different racial groups were integrated, how tasks were allotted. We see a very clear division in the Church: the (or the Greek speaking gentiles who had come to the faith). And the majority group, the converted Jews. These would have made up the overwhelming majority of the Church at Jerusalem. Feeding the widows had been a strong ethical component of Judaism, for obvious reasons. The breadwinner was dead and the women were cut adrift from the supply lines, if you wish. The young Church at Jerusalem retained this ethical component. But, like many minorities before and after them, the Hellenists felt that their people were being victimised. 'Their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food.' So the Twelve called a meeting. This is the first account we have of the delineation of separate ministries in the Church. The Twelve said, 'Look, we'll continue to preach and to pray. Let the administration of charity be a ministry in its own right.' These were the deacons of the early Church.
The young Church of 'Acts' bears all the characteristics of youthfulness: enthusiasm, boundless energy, rapid growth, clear motivation and a great deal of restlessness. We detect too that oversensitivity found in young people and in minority groups. While 'mission' is given top priority, 'maintenance' is not neglected. There is a variety of needs, but there is also a variety of gifted helpers. As the names of the seven new helpers imply, they were all Hellenists, members of the group that lodged the complaint originally. Clearly, the decision was no mere ploy to silence their carping. The 'founding fathers' readily recognized that these people had something to offer. The impulse to control bowed to the superior demands of service and involvement. There are many rooms in the Father's mansion, earthly no less than heavenly.
As an Irish Church we must recognize and mobilize our gifted servants. A wealth of energy and talent lies untapped. Our culture, the way we have been moulded as a people, constricts us. We priests have been burdened by our people's expectations. Admittedly, it simplifies things. But over the centuries, all of the ministries seemed to end up with the priest. Even the ministry of diaconate was absorbed by the office of priest. Eventually, in the Irish Church you had one actor (the priest) and an awful lot of spectators. We note in the Acts that the Hellenists didn't simply demand action. They offered themselves as actors. When conducted in this way, criticism can be positive.
The community depicted in our first reading knew Jesus in the flesh. Perhaps that accounts for their enthusiasm. But Jesus assures us in today's gospel: 'Whoever believes in me will perform even greater works than I'. So faith, rather than an historical accident of birth, explains their energy and drive. We in the Irish Church, both people and priests, could do with an infusion of their energy and vision. But we must first root out those elements within that sap our energy and cloud our vision. Otherwise, we are doomed to plod on as we are, our tradition impeding us as a millstone, rather than serving us as a precious cornerstone. It should serve all as a solid foundation; it is experienced by far too many as 'a stone to stumble over, a rock to bring men down'.