Second Sunday of Easter - Year B


Everything In Common

The book of Acts suggests that the first Christians practiced a form of pure communism. The followers of Jesus shared their wealth in a religious commune. We cannot be sure whether this was widespread or simply an ideal only practiced in Jerusalem. It differed from Marxism by basing itself on spiritual kinship rather than materialism.
The followers of Jesus may not have continued the custom for long because there were abuses of the system almost immediately. Also, it required a bureaucracy to sustain the practice and the apostles felt that this distracted them from their spiritual mission.
This spiritual communism survives today in Religious Orders where the community owns all physical property.

The community of believers was one in mind and in heart

 

Put your finger here

God's House is your house


Where Was Thomas?

John's version of the Easter event includes a story not mentioned in the other gospels. Only ten apostles are present. Judas is dead and Thomas is absent. If John's version is correct we must ask why Thomas did not join the group?
We cannot fathom his motives, but John may give a clue. He says that Thomas was called "Didymus," which is the Greek word for "twin". Some have suggested that he was often divided or "of two minds" in making decisions. Actually, the name "Thomas" itself means "twin", so to call him "Thomas Didymus", means "Twin twin," or really dubious.

Related: Resources on Sunday Readings - Clipart, homelies, articles, coloring pages, music: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

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