Divine Mercy Sunday [2nd Sunday of Easter]
Q. 368: The Apostles witnessed and preached, and all property owners sold their property and gave the money to the Apostles (First Reading, Acts 4:32-35). Was this a “Rev. Ike” scam? (Return to INDEX page of "Didja Know?" series)
(Cycle “B" – April 23, 2006)
A. 368: Rev. Ike of radio evangelism fame (or infamy, depending on your point of view) is noted for reportedly saying such things as “the lack of money is the root of all evil,” while he maintained a fleet of Rolls-Royces (a different color for each day of the week) from “donations” of listeners. He would ask listeners or callers to send him a minimum of $20 or more, and promise the listeners that those “gospel seeds” would grow into prosperity.
You may wonder: what is the difference between this Rev. Ike scenario and what happened with the earliest community of believers? The difference is in the heart; the difference lies in the word charity.
Fr. James Sullivan once said that the gift of Self is the greatest gift we can give, modeling our behavior on the extravagant gift of life, which Jesus gave to us on the Cross. That is the real meaning of Charity! It gives us the power to transcend our own needs, desires and pains, in order to be completely at the disposal of someone else. This kind of charity, Fr. Sullivan teaches, also manifests an interior attitude that shows a commitment to do something about the needs of those around us. It is not an attitude that looks for a monetary reward, like Rev. Ike promises his “donors”; it looks only to the common good of the other.
KNOW YOUR CATECHISM! St. Thérèse of Lisieux reminds us that Charity is a universal vocation; the bishops of Vatican Council II picked up that theme by teaching that Charity is the soul of our call to holiness (CCC #826). Never forget that the totally self-less and totally self-giving charity of Christ is the source in us of all of our merits before God (CCC #2011).
Deacon Paul Rooney
Mary Our Queen Parish, Omaha
(Go back to Deacon Paul's HOME PAGE)
