I
InThePew
Guest
Life in lockdown isn’t easy for anyone. The stress of social distancing and self-isolation are compounded by the ongoing uncertainty and an unknown future. We’re all concerned for those we care about; and some may well be wondering whether you’ll have jobs to go back to once it’s all over. Parents are particularly concerned for their kids’ education and, in some ways, have it hardest; home schooling and home working are hard enough by themselves, both together is almost asking the impossible.
Given this, the image of early Christian life in our reading from the Acts of the apostles seems almost hopelessly idealised; all well and good for the saints certainly but out of reach for us mere mortals. However, we need to avoid adopting a Disney+ view of early Church life; not by digging for disappointments and disagreements but by acknowledging the hardships, hostility and persecution faced on almost daily basis. Certainly, this is clear in our gospel, where we discover the disciples in their own lockdown, self-isolated and huddled together in fear of their lives from an unknown enemy.
We might ask though what changed between these events, since they’re separated by a matter of months if not weeks. To say only that it’s the appearance of the risen Christ is to miss the message which Jesus himself gives: blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe - and many if not most in the early Christian community had not seen the risen Lord. Much like Thomas though, we tend to want some sort of certainty, some proof before we’re prepared to be full believers - not for nothing is doubting Thomas called the twin. The reality is of course it doesn’t work that way; faith is the belief in things unseen, the assurance of things hoped for.
Hope is what’s different between the two communities, hope borne out of faith and made manifest in love. Hope is what the early Christians had and what we ourselves have - not because we’ve seen the risen Lord any more than they had but because we’ve searched for and found him.
Christ comes into our lives when we first start to look for him, his presence made visible in our love for others. At Saint John puts it: whoever does not love a brother he has seen cannot love a brother he has not seen. Salvation is brought about in love and through love; allowing us to recognise what truly matters once what doesn’t has been taken away leaving us with what actually endures.
Through love, despite our differences and difficulties we’re able to look past aspects of one another which irritate us - especially in lockdown life - and see what we truly value in them, appreciating all the more what they bring to our lives. When we remain resolute in faith committed to Christ and to the Church, we find strength and support in one another, mindful like the community in Acts that we are not alone.
It is through the example of our love and concern for each other that Christ is made visible in the world around us, and day by day, others are added to our community coming like us to know the place the nails, the price paid by Christ for love of us and the our source of strength in suffering; coming like us to be blessed because we believe.
Given this, the image of early Christian life in our reading from the Acts of the apostles seems almost hopelessly idealised; all well and good for the saints certainly but out of reach for us mere mortals. However, we need to avoid adopting a Disney+ view of early Church life; not by digging for disappointments and disagreements but by acknowledging the hardships, hostility and persecution faced on almost daily basis. Certainly, this is clear in our gospel, where we discover the disciples in their own lockdown, self-isolated and huddled together in fear of their lives from an unknown enemy.
We might ask though what changed between these events, since they’re separated by a matter of months if not weeks. To say only that it’s the appearance of the risen Christ is to miss the message which Jesus himself gives: blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe - and many if not most in the early Christian community had not seen the risen Lord. Much like Thomas though, we tend to want some sort of certainty, some proof before we’re prepared to be full believers - not for nothing is doubting Thomas called the twin. The reality is of course it doesn’t work that way; faith is the belief in things unseen, the assurance of things hoped for.
Hope is what’s different between the two communities, hope borne out of faith and made manifest in love. Hope is what the early Christians had and what we ourselves have - not because we’ve seen the risen Lord any more than they had but because we’ve searched for and found him.
Christ comes into our lives when we first start to look for him, his presence made visible in our love for others. At Saint John puts it: whoever does not love a brother he has seen cannot love a brother he has not seen. Salvation is brought about in love and through love; allowing us to recognise what truly matters once what doesn’t has been taken away leaving us with what actually endures.
Through love, despite our differences and difficulties we’re able to look past aspects of one another which irritate us - especially in lockdown life - and see what we truly value in them, appreciating all the more what they bring to our lives. When we remain resolute in faith committed to Christ and to the Church, we find strength and support in one another, mindful like the community in Acts that we are not alone.
It is through the example of our love and concern for each other that Christ is made visible in the world around us, and day by day, others are added to our community coming like us to know the place the nails, the price paid by Christ for love of us and the our source of strength in suffering; coming like us to be blessed because we believe.
