A homily for the Second Sunday of Easter, April 12, 2026
Acts 2:42-47, 1 Peter 1:3-9, John 20:19-31
Tattoos, T-shirts and trucks have become billboards for our thoughts and feelings, especially our social or political leanings. And, by logical extension, for our spiritual or religious or ethical beliefs.
But there’s not a lot of nuance in inked insights, in silk-screened slogans, or in bumper stickers telling the world where to stick it. Stick-figure images of the Remington and AR and Glock and Kalashnikov families could not be further from subtle.
Yes, we live in a broad-brush-label-’em world. Some of us have devolved into “if you’re not with us, you’re against us.” And that slippery slope leads to “if you’re against us, we have to shun you, or troll you, or worse.” Heaven knows, there’s a lot of “worse” to be found.
But there’s far, far more “better” out there, and it’s closer than we think.
Today’s first reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, says it all, says it clearly.
Today’s first reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, is a way of life and a plan of action worth repeating in its entirety:
They devoted themselves
to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life,
to the breaking of 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.
Communism.
Socialism.
All the isms that libs need to be pwned about.
All the isms that some folks would rather die than embrace.
And yet…
Interstate highways. Clean water. Good schools. Trash collection and sewerage systems. First responders and snowplow operators.
Volunteer food banks and youth coaches.
Charities of every sort, staffed and run by people of faith in someone or something bigger than themselves, giving hope to people pushed to their human limits.
That disgustingly dirty broad brush would paint all of these communal benefits as some sorts of isms. It would paint the people who practice them as filthy XYZists. And at the same time, some people who wield that brush would single out “the good ones” as exceptions to the shun-able XYZists.
Some people sneer at a “nanny society,” via church and/or state, instead of celebrating the elevation of everyone and the delivery of a common good.
Here’s the thing: We’re all exceptions. God made us all exceptional. Jesus showed us how to live exceptional lives, and he died and rose to seal the deal.
None of us is all red or all blue. We all are yin and yang. We all are shades of purple or gray.
We all are human, imperfect humans, children and creations of God, infused with a spark of the divine.
And those tattoos, T-shirts or trucks that say “Together We Stand,” often accompanied by a flag of some sort, have it mostly right.
Christ wants togetherness.
Christ wants us to be Christ to and for each other.
Christ wants all of us to be part of “we.”
If we — the all-of-us we — can achieve those goals, if we can stop painting labels on each other with the filthy broad brush, then the Holy Trinity will ensure we stand.
Together We Stand works only when We Stand Together.
Held up and held together by divine Love.
Let’s live as they did, those early Christians who shared and cared, AMDG.
