VATICAN - The Church and the paths of the Christian community (1) - “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.”

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “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. 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 2:42-48).
This was how the first Christian community lived, following the teachings of its Master, Jesus Christ, sent from the Father to reconcile to Himself a humanity dispersed by sin. The teachings, the prayers, the communal life, the celebration of the Eucharist, charity, missionary work; these were the building blocks of the early Church that now form the essential structure of the Church we know today, gathered around Christ to proclaim the mystery of His Passion, Death, and Resurrection and to be witnesses of God’s love for all men.
With the help of sources like Sacred Scripture, the Compendium of the Church’s Social Doctrine, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Vatican II Documents, the Code of Canon Law, and other authoritative texts, we can see an outline of the definitions, contents, and basic guidelines that characterize the Church and what it means to be a member of the Church, in a theological and institutional manner and in a dynamic and spiritual manner, always in harmony with the rest of humanity, attentive to the signs of the times.
We live in a historical time period that is marked by serious doubts and new fears and that, as Nietzsche put it, “lacks meaning and purpose, where the highest values are debased.” We find ourselves caught up in a system of “weak thought,” in which the fascination of an active life eclipses that of a contemplative life, in which the privation of God is not even considered privation, in which we witness the loss of a sense of direction and the loss of the transcendental dimension. We have reached a moment in history in which science and technology are on the hunt to solve the mystery of evil and of death and we have lost the deepest meaning of human life because we have forgotten and become indifferent in our relationship with God and existential insecurities have increased. Nevertheless, a recovery seems to come into sight, in the form of a certain longing, nostalgia, rediscovery, and necessary reevaluation of religious sensibility that is, perhaps, what enables so many people to live the joys and sufferings of this life to their fullest, opening themselves to the highest hope of a Divine plan that satisfies our incapacity to understand the great mysteries of life.
Consequently, it is important that we know the Church, that we understand how she works, reaffirming all she stands for and the manner in which she carries out her task, guided and inspired by the life-giving action of the Holy Spirit, in order to offer all men of our age a point of reference and hope. The Church, in opening her arms to all men of today in their current specific situation and in sharing in humanity’s hardships, proclaims the Gospel in fidelity to Sacred Tradition, to Sacred Scripture, and to its own Magisterium and thus, “the Church, in her teaching, life and worship, perpetuates and hands on to all generations all that she herself is, all that she believes” (II Vatican Council, Dei Verbum, 8) (EM) (Agenzia Fides 1/4/2008; righe 47, parole 629)