LESSON – RELIGION 10- THE FIRST COMMUNITY OF DISCIPLES

STORY: THE CHINESE BAMBOO (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJQatkbvDX0)

Sacred Scripture : Acts 2:4

The early Christians walked the way of Jesus. By doing so, they showed those outside of their
community the life that Jesus lived.

Communal Life
They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the
breaking of the bread, and to the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, and many wonders and
signs were done through the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in
common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to
each one's need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area
and to breaking bread in their homes. They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart,
praising God and enjoying favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to their
number those who are being saved.

✓ Church Teaching
The Church gives us an in depth explanation of what a community should be and how the
community of disciples fulfilled the mission Christ gave them. Both teachings from PCP affirm
the description of the life of the early Christians found in the Acts of the Apostles.

The Church is a Communion

In community a Christian grows in faith. We are called as individuals, and each one must give a
personal response. But Christ calls us to form a Christian community. He wants the Church to
be "a communion of life, love, and truth; a community of faith, hope, and charity.
The first disciples expressed this in their own lives. They formed a community in which they
"devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of
the bread, and to the prayers." They were "of one heart and mind" and shared even the things
they owned so that no one among them was in want.
PCP II 89–90

The community of disciples does not exist only for itself or its members. It exists for the world. It
is sent on mission to proclaim the good news of Christ and to be the instrument of His grace. It
exists in order to evangelize, i.e., to proclaim the Good News, to build up the Church, and to
serve the Kingdom by permeating the world with Gospel values so that finally all creation may
be united in Christ as Head.
PCP II 104

How can the spread of Gospel values in the world pave the way for the unity of all in Christ?

SHEDDING LIGHT
- Where is our life rooted? Our roots, like that of the Chinese bamboo tree defines our
direction in life. Thus if we are rooted in Christ we will surely walk His way.
- The Second Plenary Council strongly challenges us to trace Christ's footsteps in our
times, that is, to utter His words to others, to love with His love, to live with His life (cf.
PCP II 34). In other words, as followers of Jesus we have to walk with Him and for Him.
To be able to do so, we need to draw inspiration from the examples of the early
Christians.
 - The Acts of the Apostles tells of the growth of the Church from the small, closely-knit
community in Jerusalem with Strong Jewish culture, to several communities outside
Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria and then in Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome.

- Acts 2:42-47 describes the early Christian community in Jerusalem and shows the
steady growth of its members. The community earned admiration from the people
because of its devout life, visible solidarity, and brotherly love. The members sold their
material possessions and shared the proceeds with one another so that no one would be
in need.

- Through the inspiration of Jesus' Word and Spirit they gathered and shared a fellowship
(koinonia) of love and prayer centered on the breaking of the bread in their homes. The
breaking of the bread signifies their obedience to His command at the Last Supper when
He commanded the apostles to “do this in memory of me."

- As the members of the Christian community continued to increase and people who
were non-Jews got attracted to the Christian message, the believers had to clarify how
they understand themselves in relation to the Jewish faith
- Greek word ekklesia - translates the Hebrew qahal, meaning the assembly of people.
- By using the term ecclesia (in English, Church), for itself, the Chris community identified
itself as heir to that assembly which God calls toget from all the ends of the earth.

- From the life of the early Christians, we learn how we can achieve unity at various levels (cf.
CCC 949-953)

1. Communion in the faith. The faith of the faithful is the faith of the Church
received from the apostles. Faith is a treasure of life which is enriched by being shared.

2. Communion of the sacraments. "The fruit of all the sacraments belong

to all the faithful. All the sacraments are sacred links uniting the faithful with one another and
binding them to Jesus Christ, and above all Baptism,
the gate by which we enter into the Church."

3. Communion of charisms. Within the communion of the Church, the Holy

Spirit "distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank" for the
building of the Church.

4. “They had everything in common." Everything the true Christian has is

to be regarded as a good possessed in common with everyone else. All Christians should be
ready and eager to come to the help of the needy... and of their neighbor in want."

5. Communion in charity. This communion is best expressed in these

words, “None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself." "If one member suffers, all
suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the Body of Christ
and individually members of it."

- As members of the Church we are called today to emulate the examples of the
Christians by helping build a community where fraternal charity abounds. We are called
to observe the new law of love within the community we move about. We begin living out
this love by having an integral vision of the human person, giving due respect to his or
 her personal and social dimensions. Then we move on to work not only for own personal
gains but also for the good of all, for our total human development, and for the fulfillment
of our vocation as Jesus' disciples.

- Doing all these will not be easy. Just like the early Christians, we too WII have our own
share of sufferings. But just like the early Christians who drew strength from prayer, from
the Word of God and from the breaking of bread, he too shall remain unfazed if we turn
to God in prayer, if we fortify ourselves with the nourishment provided by the Eucharist.

New Words :

Breaking of bread – technical term applied to the Eucharist

Communion – fellowship;

- used to refer to the Lord's Supper (1 Cor. 10:16-17) because in it there is fellowship
between Christ and His disciples and of the disciples with one another;

- the part of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in which the body, blood, soul, and divinity
of Christ is received whole and entire under the form of bread alone and/or wine
consumed by the recipient.