I am always edified from this reading from the fourth chapter of Acts that we hear during the Easter season, telling us about the community of the faithful in the early Church, of how they were of one heart and one mind, how they shared their things in common and took care of those in need. However, we don’t often hear from the fifth chapter of Acts, the story of Ananias and Sapphira. This couple sold a piece of property, but they kept a portion of the money they received for themselves. Peter asks Ananias why he did that. When Ananias denies this deed to Peter, Peter accuses him of lying to God, at which point, Ananias falls down dead. Then Peter asks the same thing of Sapphira, at which point she also falls down dead. In St Peter’s basilica in Rome, there is an altar where a painting depicts this scene. It is called the Altar of the lie. A lot of times we put things before God, don’t we? We make other things our gods and our idols. Sometimes we refuse to be truthful to God. Not being truthful can disrupt or break our relationship with God or with our brothers and sisters. May the Lord set us free to truly follow our faith.
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