In today’s first reading (Acts 4:32-35) we hear of the early church described as a “community of believers of one heart and mind”.  We hear of a community in which no one is needy because everyone is looking out for each other and sharing all that they had among themselves.  We hear of a community that demonstrates a selfless love and a communal spirit ensuring that all are taken care of.  This is a community blessed by God because of their faith, a community whose heart and mind reflected that of God’s.

We are called to live like that first Christian community.  We are called to share our possessions and our compassionate hearts with those we encounter, especially those in need. We are expected to look after those less fortunate than us even if it calls for sacrifice and inconvenience.

Now there’s no denying that this sometimes can be challenging.  It certainly is for me.  Given our human condition – with our inflated egos and our self preservation instinct – this is is not always easy.   Sometimes we allow our self-centeredness to blind us to those whose inner selves are battered and broken.  Sometimes we allow our insecurites to blind us to those who have no security at all. Sometimes we allow our overblown anxieties to blind us to those who are dealing with real hardship and tragedy.  Sometimes we allow our desire for comfort and pleasure to blind us to those who are just scraping to get by.  Sometimes we let our ambitions blind us to those who never had a chance in the first place.
 
So, how can we rid ourselves of these human inclinations that can cause us to be so neglectful of others? How can we possibly shake off these dispositions that are so firmly embedded in our human nature? The early Christian community gives us the answer – faith in the power of Christ.  With faith and trust in Jesus we can ask Him (over and over again if necessary), to help us see, think, and act as God does.  We can ask Him to allow his spirit to “fill us up”. We can ask Him for the power we need to conquer those parts of ourselves that cause us to neglect others.  We can ask Him to replace our ego, with a humble spirit, to replace our insecurity with trust in God, to replace our self-centeredness, with a true concern for others.   We can ask him to open our minds and soften our hearts so that we, like the early church community, can live our lives  with the heart and mind of God.