SET YOURSELVES CLOSE TO CHRIST

V EASTER SUNDAY - Acts 6:1-7

Since the very beginning, the Christian community was faced with crisis after crisis. In a normal situation, that would have caused the end of the Church. However, guided by the Spirit of the Risen Lord, the Church found in every crisis a new opportunity. The first big crisis was the result of division and discrimination in the community, between the Hebrews and the Hellenists. There were many Hebrews who had adopted Greek culture even in Jerusalem. And there were many living in the big cities outside Palestine (for instance, Alexandria, Antioch, Ephesus and Corinth), who spoke only Greek. There was a big tension between these two groups, and that manifested itself in discrimination, which led to present a complaint before the Apostles: “in the daily distribution their own widows were being overlooked” (Act 6:1). The Apostles listened to the grievances presented to them and called “a full meeting of the disciples” in order to find a solution. This crisis created the opportunity to organise the community, sharing and distributing the different tasks (ministries) within the community.

In his first letter, Peter speaks of a “spiritual house”, which has Jesus Christ as its foundation and then is built with the “living stones”, leaving it clear that we are those living stones, forming with Christ one body. We must remain “close to him” so that we become as “the holy priesthood that offers the spiritual sacrifices” to God, in union with the only sacrifice that is “acceptable to God” (1 Pet 2:5), the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 

The Church, although made of people, is very different from any other groups made of people. The Church is built upon Christ, who is the only point of reference, and so it belongs to Christ. Without Christ, the Church is meaningless. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. It is in him that we find peace and meaning. It is in him that we find the Way to the Father, to hour home in heaven, built by God himself. So, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God still, and trust in me.” (Jn 14:1).