April 22

Today’s Readings: ACTS 5:17-26 PS 34:2-9 JN 3:16-21

Yesterday, we talked about the early Christian community and how they shared everything.

The beginning of the next chapter of Acts takes quite a turn. It talks about Ananias and his wife. They sell land, but hold back some of the proceeds from the community. When confronted by Peter about his deceit, Ananias dies on the spot. Then, his wife lies and claims they gave all the proceeds of the sale. When Peter tells her what happened to her husband and that it will happen to her, as well, she falls over dead.

Did God strike them down? Or did they die of guilt and shame and heartache? We’ll never know.

What we DO know is that they had a choice. They didn’t need to join the community if they had no intention of conforming to its norms. They wanted the benefits without the sacrifices.

How often do we find ourselves tempted toward the same attitude?

We want the Sacraments, the community, and most of all, heaven. Yet, we want to hang on to our finances, our plans, our hurts, our lives. We pretend we are at a salad bar when it comes to trusting God. You can have this, that, and this other thing, but not that.

When we hold back from God, we find ourselves trapped in guilt, shame, and heartache.

David is the Director of Faith Formation at Our Lady of Joy. If you have comments or questions, send your emails to dlins@oloj.org.

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