We Americans lionize successful entrepreneurs, who take an idea and a lot of moxie, and create something that changes the world, often turning the start-up leaders into millionaires and billionaires. But will these modern-day titans be remembered two-thousand years from now? Not likely.
What about the early church entrepreneurs?
With the arrival of Easter Sunday, celebrating Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, the first reading at Mass changes from the usual Old Testament to seven consecutive weeks of first readings taken from the 5th book of the New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles, which tells of the earliest days of the church. According the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:
“The Acts of the Apostles, the second volume of Luke’s two-volume work, continues Luke’s presentation of biblical history, describing how the salvation promised to Israel in the Old Testament and accomplished by Jesus has now under the guidance of the holy Spirit been extended to the Gentiles.” (See https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/0)
Reading the Acts is reading about the “entrepreneurial church,” the start-up church. It is exciting reading and if we place ourselves in the context of the readings, you can feel the excitement, confusion, “seat-of-the-pants” experience the Apostles were living in the midst of the Risen Lord and upon receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s take a look at the readings of the Acts of the Apostles for the seven Sundays of Easter for 2021. On Easter morning, we read, in part:
“…[Jesus] commissioned us to preach to the people
and testify that he is the one appointed by God
as judge of the living and the dead.
To him all the prophets bear witness,
that everyone who believes in him
will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.”
On the Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, we read:
The community of believers was of one heart and mind,
and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own,
but they had everything in common.
With great power the apostles bore witness
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,
and great favor was accorded them all.
There was no needy person among them,
for those who owned property or houses would sell them,
bring the proceeds of the sale,
and put them at the feet of the apostles,
and they were distributed to each according to need.
On the Third Sunday of Easter, we read, in part:
“…Now I know, brothers,
that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did;
but God has thus brought to fulfillment
what he had announced beforehand
through the mouth of all the prophets,
that his Christ would suffer.
Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away.”
On the Fourth Sunday of Easter, we read, in part:
“…[Jesus] is the stone rejected by you, the builders,
which has become the cornerstone.
There is no salvation through anyone else,
nor is there any other name under heaven
given to the human race by which we are to be saved.”
On the Fifth Sunday of Easter, we read:
When Saul arrived in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples,
but they were all afraid of him,
not believing that he was a disciple.
Then Barnabas took charge of him and brought him to the apostles,
and he reported to them how he had seen the Lord,
and that he had spoken to him,
and how in Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus.
He moved about freely with them in Jerusalem,
and spoke out boldly in the name of the Lord.
He also spoke and debated with the Hellenists,
but they tried to kill him.
And when the brothers learned of this,
they took him down to Caesarea
and sent him on his way to Tarsus.
The church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace.
It was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord,
and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit it grew in numbers.
On the Sixth Sunday of Easter, we read:
When Peter entered, Cornelius met him
and, falling at his feet, paid him homage.
Peter, however, raised him up, saying,
“Get up. I myself am also a human being.”
Then Peter proceeded to speak and said,
“In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.
Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly
is acceptable to him.”
While Peter was still speaking these things,
the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the word.
The circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter
were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit
should have been poured out on the Gentiles also,
for they could hear them speaking in tongues and glorifying God.
Then Peter responded,
“Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people,
who have received the Holy Spirit even as we have?”
He ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
On the Seventh Sunday of Easter, also the Solemnity of the Ascension, we read, in part:
Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers
—there was a group of about one hundred and twenty persons
in the one place —.
He said, “My brothers,
the Scripture had to be fulfilled
which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand
through the mouth of David, concerning Judas,
who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus.
He was numbered among us
and was allotted a share in this ministry.
“For it is written in the Book of Psalms:
May another take his office.
“Therefore, it is necessary that one of the men
who accompanied us the whole time
the Lord Jesus came and went among us,
beginning from the baptism of John
until the day on which he was taken up from us,
become with us a witness to his resurrection...”
Two thousand years later and we still read the Acts of the Apostles.
The Acts reflect the missionary zeal of those sent to preach the Good News to the ends of the earth. They reflect a deep trust and confidence in God and in the Risen Christ, despite facing all kinds of obstacles and challenges, including imprisonment and death. In the travels of the Apostles in those early days of the Church, we are witnessing the spreading of the Word of God.
What the Apostles did we should emulate, namely, nurturing a deep and abiding trust in God, taking the initiative to build-up our communities – in our families, in our parish and beyond, and to recognize that God is with us in our daily challenges, large and small. Finally, we should recognize that when we travel, the Word of God travels in us and through us.
