Early Church
In the book of Acts we find bits and pieces of the early Church coming together. I thought it was important to include just what the apostles do after Jesus goes to Bethany and He ascends back into heaven. It says, in Acts, “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles.” (Acts 2:42) Now these were oral teachings because things weren’t written down for 20, 30, or 40 years. And the book of John wasn’t written down until maybe 50 years later. But these teachings were oral. And the Bible was not assembled until around 382 A.D. “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.” (Acts 2:42-46) How often did they break this bread? Daily! It says they broke it daily! Give us this day our daily bread. How often do we receive communion? It’s available at the Catholic Church every day. Every Catholic Church in the world consecrates Holy Communion every day. “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 were being saved.” (Acts 2:46-47)
Now many of the Jews did not accept Jesus at this time as the Messiah and the Son of God, therefore, they still celebrate the Passover. They’re still in the Passover. Many of them are still in the Passover today – still celebrating the Passover. All of the people that became Christians and accept Jesus as the Messiah and Savior gave up the old Passover and celebrate the new Feast of the Eucharist. And we see it right here.
Paul spreads the message around the world. He writes a letter to the Corinthians, and he includes in this letter, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10:16) It is estimated that half of all Catholics don’t believe that Jesus is really present in the Eucharist. That’s sad. I want to hammer this point home: that He is present, and we’ve been taught this. And it’s our ignorance that some of us don’t believe it. We should all believe this. And when we truly believe this, we live our lives accordingly.
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