The icon of the early Church

24. Historical situations change, but the point of reference in the life of the believer and the believing community remains the same, that point of reference that is represented by the Word of God, especially where it recounts the events of the early Church. These events of the early Church and their way of living them constitute for us the exemplum, the model for being Church. This is true also in regard to the pastoral care of vocations. We shall examine only some essential and particularly exemplary elements, as they are proposed to us in the Acts of the Apostles, at the time when the early Church was numerically very poor and weak. The pastoral care of vocations is the same age as the Church; it arose at the same time as the Church, in that poverty unexpectedly inhabited by the Spirit.

At the dawn of this singular history, that is the history of all of us, there is the promise of the Holy Spirit, made by Jesus before He ascended to the Father. "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Samaria and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1, 7-8). The Apostles gather together in the cenacle "and with one accord devoted themselves to prayer...with Mary, the mother of Jesus" (1, 14), and immediately they act to fill the post left vacant by Judas with another chosen from among those who had been with Jesus from the beginning: so that "he might become with us a witness to His resurrection" (1, 22). And the promise is fulfilled: the Holy Spirit descends with riotous effect and fills the house and the lives of those who before had been timid and fearful, with a rumble, a wind, a fire... "And they began to speak in other tongues...and each one heard them speaking in his own language" (2, 4.6). And "Peter standing..., lifted up his voice and addressed them" about the history of salvation (2, 14), an address that cuts those that hear it "to the heart" and provokes the decisive question about life: "what shall we do?" (2, 37).

At this point the Book of the Acts describes the life of the early community, which was marked by some essential elements, such as their diligence in listening to the teachings of the Apostles, brotherly union, the breaking of bread, prayer, sharing of material goods; but at the same time the feelings and goods of the Spirit (cf 2, 42-48).

In the meantime, Peter and the Apostles continue to work wonders in the name of Jesus and to proclaim the kerygma of salvation, regularly risking their lives, but always supported by the community, within which the believers form "one heart and soul" (4, 32). In it, as well, needs begin to grow and diversify, and so deacons are instituted to meet these needs of the community, even the material needs, especially of the weakest (cf 6, 1-7).

Such strong and courageous witness can only provoke the ire of the authorities, leading to the first martyr, Stephen; this underlines that the cause of the Gospel requires the whole person, even his life (cf 6, 8-7,70). Saul, the persecutor of Christians, also assents to the sentence condemning Stephen; this is the same man who, shortly, will be chosen by God to proclaim to the pagans the mystery hidden for centuries and now revealed.

And the story continues, ever more as a sacred history: the story of God who chooses and calls men to salvation, even in unforeseen ways, and the story of individuals who allow themselves to be called and chosen by God.

These notes are enough for us to recognise in the early community the basic lines of pastoral work in a totally vocational Church: on the level of methods and contents, of general principles, of the programmes to be followed and the specific strategies to realise it.