Acts 11, 27-30 Each should send relief to the brothers

(Acts 11, 27-30) Each should send relief to the brothers

[27] At that time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch, [28] and one of them named Agabus stood up and predicted by the Spirit that there would be a severe famine all over the world, and it happened under Claudius. [29] So the disciples determined that, according to ability, each should send relief to the brothers who lived in Judea. [30] This they did, sending it to the presbyters in care of Barnabas and Saul.

(CCC 770) The Church is in history, but at the same time she transcends it. It is only "with the eyes of faith" (Roman Catechism I, 10, 20) that one can see her in her visible reality and at the same time in her spiritual reality as bearer of divine life. (CCC 951) Communion of charisms. Within the communion of the Church, the Holy Spirit "distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank" for the building up of the Church (LG 12 § 2). Now, "to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good" (1 Cor 12:7). (CCC 952) "They had everything in common" (Acts 4:32). "Everything the true Christian has is to be regarded as a good possessed in common with everyone else. All Christians should be ready and eager to come to the help of the needy… and of their neighbors in want" (Roman Catechism 1, 10, 27). A Christian is a steward of the Lord's goods (Cf. Lk 16:1, 3). (CCC 2003) Grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies and sanctifies us. But grace also includes the gifts that the Spirit grants us to associate us with his work, to enable us to collaborate in the salvation of others and in the growth of the Body of Christ, the Church. There are sacramental graces, gifts proper to the different sacraments. There are furthermore special graces, also called charisms after the Greek term used by St. Paul and meaning "favor," "gratuitous gift," "benefit" (Cf. LG 12). Whatever their character - sometimes it is extraordinary, such as the gift of miracles or of tongues - charisms are oriented toward sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the Church. They are at the service of charity which builds up the Church (Cf. 1 Cor 12). (CCC 2004) Among the special graces ought to be mentioned the graces of state that accompany the exercise of the responsibilities of the Christian life and of the ministries within the Church: Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching; he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness (Rom 12:6-8).