Acta Benedicti Pp. XVI 297

a small flock like that described in the first reading, the Church in America

has been built up in fidelity to the twin commandment of love of God and

love of neighbor. In this land of freedom and opportunity, the Church has

united a widely diverse flock in the profession of the faith and, through her

many educational, charitable and social works, has also contributed signifi-

cantly to the growth of American society as a whole.

This great accomplishment was not without its challenges. Today's first

reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, speaks of linguistic and cultural

tensions already present within the earliest Church community. At the same

time, it shows the power of the word of God, authoritatively proclaimed by

the Apostles and received in faith, to create a unity which transcends the

divisions arising from human limitations and weakness. Here we are re-

minded of a fundamental truth: that the Church's unity has no other basis

than the Word of God, made flesh in Christ Jesus our Lord. All external signs

of identity, all structures, associations and programs, valuable or even essen-

tial as they may be, ultimately exist only to support and foster the deeper

unity which, in Christ, is God's indefectible gift to his Church.

The first reading also makes clear, as we see from the imposition of hands

on the first deacons, that the Church's unity is ''apostolic''. It is a visible

unity, grounded in the Apostles whom Christ chose and appointed as wit-

nesses to his resurrection, and it is born of what the Scriptures call ''the

obedience of faith''.3

''Authority'' ... ''obedience''. To be frank, these are not easy words to

speak nowadays. Words like these represent a ''stumbling stone'' for many

of our contemporaries, especially in a society which rightly places a high

value on personal freedom. Yet, in the light of our faith in Jesus Christ -

''the way and the truth and the life'' - we come to see the fullest meaning,

value, and indeed beauty, of those words. The Gospel teaches us that true

freedom, the freedom of the children of God, is found only in the self-surren-

der which is part of the mystery of love. Only by losing ourselves, the Lord

tells us, do we truly find ourselves.4 True freedom blossoms when we turn

away from the burden of sin, which clouds our perceptions and weakens our

3 Rom 1:5; cfr Acts 6:7. 4 Cf. Lk 17:33.