After the death and resurrection of Jesus, early Christians formed themselves into communities as reflected in the Acts of the Apostles. Within 40 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Romans had destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple, beginning what we call the Diaspora in which Jews and Christians fled from Judea into other parts of the Roman Empire. Even before this, Christian communities formed in other cities, as indicated in St. Paul’s letters to them – Romans, Corinthians, Philippians, etc.
As these Christian communities developed, they lived certain values, such as care of the sick, orphans, and widows. They empowered one another by sharing their resources in common. They struggled to form community with each other and to welcome those considered by some to be “Gentiles” and non-circumcised. They believed that Christ would soon return, that the end of the world was near, and that their final home was in heaven with Christ.
Often in those first centuries, these Christians were viewed as unpatriotic and anti-Roman, unwilling to worship the Emperor and the pantheon of Roman gods. Hence, at various time, these Christians suffered martyrdom. They saw in martyrdom the opportunity to suffer with Christ – even to the point of death. Martyrdom was their sure passage to the eternal life of heaven.
In the ancient world, the dualistic Gnostic philosophy held that only the spirit of a person was good, and that the body was evil. Anything pertaining to the body and sexuality was evil. This philosophy tainted Christianity. Some taught marriage was sinful. Celibacy or sexual continence was good. Celibacy became the supreme ascetical practice – next to martyrdom. Some saw celibates as living a higher Christian life than married couples whose lifestyles were tolerated.
In time, within the larger Christian communities, other smaller communities formed, such as communities of virgins who practiced celibacy and lived their Christian faith by caring for the sick, the orphans, and educating children.
In the year 312 CE, Emperor Constantine recognized Christianity as the religion of Rome and apparently converted. Christians no longer feared physical martyrdom. So they looked for other ways to express their commitment and sacrifice to Christ.
In the 3rd and 4th centuries, groups of men, and eventually women, attempted to follow Christ who initiated his public ministry by first spending 40 days in the desert. Individually, and in small groups, they began to leave the cities to permanently live in the deserts of Egypt, Syria, and Palestine. This was for them a new form of martyrdom. Today we call these people the desert fathers and mothers. Wisdom sayings from these desert dwellers have come down to Christians as the apothegms or sayings of the desert fathers and mothers. The Life of St. Anthony of Desert, who was born in 251 CE, became an inspiring Christian classic.
Besides their motive of following Christ into the desert, many were disillusioned with the lax Christian lifestyles in the cities after Christianity became accepted in the Roman Empire. To live a more authentic Christian life and follow Christ more closely, they felt that their salvation was to be found by escaping from the corruption of cities to dwell in the solitude of the deserts.
Some lived as hermits with no contact with others. Some lived in solitude and formed cenobitic communities where they would occasionally come together with others for prayer and sharing. Soon they discovered that to advance in Christian asceticism, they needed to form disciplined communities under a rule of an authority. Such a rule fostered self-discipline, work, and contemplative prayer.
Eventually, various rules or guidelines for living in these emerging religious communities were formulated – such as those rules of Cassian, Benedict, and Columbanus of Ireland. The Rule of St. Benedict, the founder of Western monasticism, eventually became the standard rule for Benedictine Christian monasteries.
Some values lived in Christian monasteries included silence, communal prayer at various hours of the day, physical work, self-discipline, and mortification, including poverty, chastity and obedience to an abbot or abbess.
Over 1500 years, stricter reform movements of the Benedictines were initiated by the Camaldolese, Cistercians, and Trappists.
Christianity has changed and developed through the centuries. Christians have attempted to live their Christianity more closely following the gospel.
Today, in many ways Christianity has been co-opted by the world. We see white supremacist Christians claiming they are following the gospel of Jesus in advocating the superiority of the white race, and espousing violence toward other races and religions. We see people of goodwill claiming to be Christians yet who fully support values of our culture and nation which are contrary to the gospel. We see some in government claiming to be Catholic while supporting policies contrary to the Church’s social teaching. We sometimes call ourselves a Christian nation, while having a standing army and the world’s most powerful military force – as once the Romans did. Many Christians feelthere is nothing wrong with seeking excessive wealth while ignoring the needs of refugees, migrants, and victims of suffering throughout the world. We are often judgmental of marginalized people who are forced to live as undocumented immigrants, gang members, trafficked women and men, prison or former inmates, drug addicted people, or those with mental issues. The very people Jesus seemed to associate with are the ones many Christians shy away from. We are comfortable with people of our own tribe, but reluctant to accept or form human bonds with people of other races, nationalities, or religions.
Do Christians today need to envision and be motivated by a renewed way of living their faith which stretches out to the entire world and includes all creation? Do we need communities of Christian witnesses willing to stand against certain secular and superficial Christian values? Will the Church survive without a deeply Christian life, true to the gospel, that is open to the future, and one that does not retreat into the past? If so, perhaps we will experience a revitalization of the Church and Christianity.