THE FIRST EFFORTS AT ORGANISING THE CHURCH

V EASTER SUNDAY - Acts 14:21-27

During Easter time, in the liturgy of the word, we read the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of Saint John. The Acts of the Apostles present the first steps of the Early Church, mainly the way she opened up to the Gentiles and the way she established herself. independently from the synagogue, building up communities that had at their centre the proclamation of the Gospel and the celebration of the Eucharist.

The beginnings of the Church were very humble and took place mainly in Jerusalem. After receiving the Holy Spirit in the feast of Pentecost, the Apostles engaged themselves with enthusiasm in the preaching of the Gospel and they managed to get a big following very quickly. This success brought them into conflict with the leaders and they suffered persecution because of that. The persecution scattered many of the new converts and they took with them their faith in Jesus Christ. Wherever they went, they gave witness to the Good News of salvation, which was spreading like wildfire. Very soon, many gentiles believed in Jesus Christ and Antioch would become the centre of a new effort to take the message of the Gospels further and further. Paul and Barnabas were chosen to play the leading role and they excelled in their effort to make Jesus Christ known, believed, followed and loved. Wherever they went, they tried to establish communities of believers, who came to be known as Christians. Being rejected by the leaders of the synagogue, the Christians had to establish their own communities, which were centred on Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the Living God. From the liturgy of the synagogue, they kept the reading of the Scriptures, which were understood as leading to Jesus Christ. And certainly, they learned a lot from the structures and the organisation of the synagogue.

This Sunday’s first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, informs us that, before going back to Antioch in order to report on their mission, they visited the disciples, “encouraging them to persevere in the faith”. Then, “in each of these churches, they appointed elders” so that each Christian community could have the basic structures to function, that is, to bear witness to Christ, to proclaim his gospel, to instruct in the faith (catechesis) and to celebrate the faith in communion with all the communities, helping each other to excel in love, fulfilling Christ’s commandment. The appointment of the elders was of paramount importance for the newly created communities and, recognising that Paul and Barnabas organised a time of prayer and fasting, knowing very well that the communities and their leaders should be entrusted to the Lord. Having done that, Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch and presented a report of their work to the community that had sent them.