NOTES for Act 4:32-37

Today's reading from the Acts of the Holy Apostles begins with astonishing words: "The company of those who believed were of one heart and soul." Is this possible? Can we even imagine it? Our unanimity, or even simple agreement, usually lasts such a short time... Moreover, it is often precisely in a church community that we "relax" and all our "family" problems creep into the light. It is well known that maintaining peaceful relationships can be especially difficult with those closest to us. So it is in the Church as well. Yet the first Christians, it seems, did not have this problem! Why was that? Was it a special grace? Of course, nothing is possible without grace, but it seems to me that the main reason was people's openness to that grace. The Lord is ever the same; He does not change, and He is not only able but also willing to bestow the same grace of unity upon all of us, upon our Church and our communities.