Let Us Live Apostolically!
Sofia Bekri, philologist-theologian
Through the Acts of the Apostles (chapters 2 and 4) we learn about the life of the first Christians in the communities of love. We observe, then, that their unanimity of spirit within the community was not limited only to matters of a spiritual or educational nature, but extended also to financial matters, where there was justice and honesty, so that the needs of all the brethren might be met, «as anyone had need» (Acts 4:35). Indeed, to serve this common work, since the needs were continually increasing, the community as a whole, at the exhortation of the Apostles, elected the deacons, to assist the Apostles in the sphere of social service.
The Apostles, therefore, on the basis of their own communion with Christ, subsequently founded the apostolic communities, where they carried the message of love, and in which they exhorted the new citizens to live with right faith, true life and a just and peaceful conduct. There existed, moreover, an inner bond between the various communities and mutual support, as happened for example on the part of the other communities toward the hard-pressed brethren of the community of Jerusalem (2 Cor. 8:14, Gal. 2:10, and elsewhere).
Unfortunately, this internal autonomy and the spirit of solidarity that characterized these first communities was not maintained in later years, for many reasons that constitute the subject of a separate study.
What matters, in any case, is that the Apostles laid the foundations of these communities, which were true cells of Christian life and conduct, upon the cornerstone, Christ, with Whom they remained perpetually united, despite their dispersion throughout the entire then-known world. Moreover, they did not preach truths of their own, but the one and only Truth, which is a person, Christ: «I am the way, the truth and the life» (John 14:6). Thus they succeeded in this threefold mission of theirs — of spiritual enlightenment, of educational cultivation and of social ministry — thanks to their unity with the Word of God, to their unity and cooperation among themselves, and of course thanks to the synergy of the Holy Spirit, which directed their every step.
We too, therefore, the Christians of today, baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity and enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, have a duty to walk in the footsteps of the Apostles, becoming in our turn little apostles, which means to remain faithful to the truth of the «One, Holy and Catholic Church» and, through our genuine Christian life and our just and cooperative conduct, to be shining examples for other people as well, «that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven» (Matt. 5:16).
Thus and only thus shall we truly honour the Apostles, who call us, through the mouth of their foremost, the Apostle Paul, to become imitators of them in deeds and not only in words (1 Cor. 11:1), for the benefit and salvation of ourselves and — may it be so — of all people. So be it!
