Easter and the May Election: One Heart, Mind, and Pocketbook of Mercy?

My preaching for the 2nd Sunday of Easter (Jn 20, Acts 4).

We usually think of Thomas' doubt as a sin against Jesus, and perhaps it was, but more immediately, it's a failure to trust his brothers and sisters. He doesn't believe in the resurrection. But that's because he doesn't believe his brothers and sisters. He fails to rely on them.

The early believers' reliance on each other is the theme of today's first reading:

The community of believers was of one heart and mind,
and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own,
but they had everything in common...
There was no needy person among them...

Total sharing of possessions? This is astonishing isn't it? Maybe even scandalous for those who put their faith in capitalism. In this age of bailouts and tea parties, as we recover from tax day and get ready for the special election in a few weeks -- yes, another election -- six budget-oriented propositions from the state legislature -- in the midst of all this, can this scripture passage and other church teaching help us find Jesus' call to us? When do we share, and when do we insist on holding on to what's ours? Is anything really ours?

In Pacem and Terris, Pope John XXIII wrote:

The right to private property...derives from the nature of humanity. This right is an effective means for safeguarding the dignity of the human person and for the exercise of responsibility in all fields; it strengthens and gives serenity to family life, thereby increasing the peace and prosperity of the state. However, it is opportune to point out that there is a social duty essentially inherent in the right of private property. (No. 21-22)

So the Church teaches that we have the right of private property but that, with this right, comes a responsibility to help others.

The United States bishops, in their landmark 1986 document Economic Justice For All, don't advocate exact equality of wealth:

Some degree of inequality not only is acceptable, but also may be considered desirable for economic and social reasons, such as the need for incentives and provision of greater rewards for greater risks. However, unequal distribution should be evaluated in terms of several moral principles we have enunciated: the priority of meeting the basic needs of the poor and the importance of increasing the level of participation by all members of society in the economic life of the nation...In view of these norms we find the disparities of income and wealth in the United States to be unacceptable. (No. 185)

Neither exact inequality nor great disparity, especially when there is poverty. The bishops even provide guidelines for a just taxation system as one way of reducing poverty:

First, the tax system should raise adequate revenues to pay for the public needs of society, especially to meet the basic needs of the poor. Secondly, the tax system should be structured according to the principle of progressivity, so that those with relatively greater financial resources pay a higher rate of taxation...Thirdly, families below the official poverty line should not be required to pay income taxes... (No. 202)

So a just system of taxation is first of all one that reduces poverty.

It's clear that our tradition emphasizes the common good and that private ownership is to be directed toward the common good, giving special consideration to the poor. It's probably not so clear, though, how that applies to the six propositions we'll be voting on in a few weeks. Will the first proposition's goal of a rainy day fund to prevent future budget panics and increased taxation harm the poor by taking away the legislature's latitude to care for the poor? Three other propositions redirect funds, at least temporarily, from spending on education, children's health and human services, and mental health, to the general fund. One of these, the lottery proposition, wants to use the revenues for the general fund instead of for education, paying for education by other means. This brings up the question that rarely gets raised: Is the lottery a regressive tax, a tax on the poor? Poor people play the lottery more than the rest of us. And the cost of a lottery ticket is a higher percentage of their income.

In addition to the official voter's guide, ballotpedia.org might be one of the best resources for information. The California Bishops are planning on putting on their website some references to relevant Church teaching. The League of Women voters shares the Church's commitment to the poor, and along with their typically thorough analysis, they've explained the "no" stance they're taking on the four measures I've just referred to. They don't take a stance on the other two.

Today's first reading isn't just talking about economics. The U.S. bishops, in Economic Justice For All, write that the phrase "all things in common" "suggests not only shared material possessions, but more fundamentally, friendship and mutual concern among all its members." (No. 185) We're called to rely on each other in all sorts of ways. That's essential to being human -- relying on one another.

Like Thomas, we haven't seen the resurrected Jesus. We have to rely on those who have gone before us in faith. We have to rely on each other. Or, maybe the deeper truth is that we get to rely on each other for our faith. Our faith is itself something communal. In a sense, our faith is in the community. It's a faith in Jesus' presence in the community.

In fact, in today's gospel story, Jesus entrusts the community with forgiveness of sins:

He breathed on them and said to them,
"Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained."

This 2nd Sunday of the Easter season is even called Divine Mercy Sunday.

May our commitment to one another in Christ, our divine link to one another, lead us to grow in our generous sharing of Christ's mercy, even if it means sharing our material goods. Of course, it's even scarier for most of us, yet even more life-giving, to share our hearts and our faith. May we rely on each other ever more deeply this Easter season, for it is in one another that we experience resurrected life.