Politicians are scrambling for a solution to the world’s woes. Capitalists believe that in a market-based economy all will have jobs and economy will flourish. Socialists believe that if wealth is distributed equally by the government, everyone’s needs will be taken care of and all will be well. Whose idea is right and whose is wrong? Or is the best solution to the world’s ills, a combination of the two? Does God have an opinion on this?
God does have an opinion. In fact, he “engineered” a social model that accomplishes all the goals of capitalists and socialists and goes beyond. We call this model “the Church.”
In today’s first reading we read about God’s model (Acts 4:32-37).
“The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common.”
Imagine a group of people who have “one heart and mind.” How is this possible? We remember that the Church was not formed by men and women putting their ideas together; it was formed by God. It grew out of the experience of the Holy Spirit coming into the hearts of Jesus’ disciples. They were transformed from inside out, and their life source was now the life of the Holy Spirit. It was a group that saw life beyond earthly existence. They were pilgrims helping one another reach their heavenly homeland. So close were they that they formed one body, namely the Body of Jesus Christ. It was his mind and his heart that lived in each of them, and that is why they were able to be “one.” So trusting were they in their heavenly Father that they pooled all their possessions and held all in common.
“There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the Apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need.”
“No needy person.” Isn’t this the goal of any society? Yet all attempts by governments to make this happen seem to have failed. Why? Because they were trying to achieve this by human efforts and resources. What God himself does not build, eventually falls apart. Human life is not strong enough to break down the walls that separate people and create hearts generous enough to share all they have with others. The divine life of the Holy Spirit is what empowered those members of the early Church to hold all in common and take care of the needy among them.
No matter what politicians promise, secular solutions to society’s problems will not work. Trying to put a society together without God’s power and the Lordship of Jesus is like trying to form bricks into a building without using mortar to hold them together.
Our Church today in most places does not look like the one described in today’s reading from Acts of the Apostles. There are still people in our parishes whose needs are not meant. There are still people who belong to the Church who are driven more by greed than by generosity. And most of our parishes are not one in “mind and heart.” What’s missing? Is it not the life of the Holy Spirit? Recent Popes have prayed for a “new Pentecost” to erupt within our Church with the hope that we will again be a model to the world of what a God-driven society looks like.
“Holiness befits your house O Lord for length of days” (Ps 93:2).
