Continuing the mission. How do health care leaders keep Catholic identity alive in today's world?

THE EARLY CHURCH In the earliest decades of the Christian community, the good news Jesus proclaimed was shared by the first disciples with many people from the surrounding cities and villages. The style of life to which Jesus invited his first disciples informed the life of the community which had formed around him as their rabbi and friend. Gradually, the first disciples drew these new followers into their communal life. It was the joyful proclamation of the good news and the vibrancy of the communities of Christians attracted many to join. The church was born, though in the early days, there was not yet a consciousness of a wholly new community. This is evidenced by details found in the Scriptures, for example that Peter and John continued to go to the temple to pray (Acts 3:1) and that there was a serious controversy about whether baptized pagans needed to be circumcised and become members of the Jewish community (Acts 15:1-35). One could say the primary carrier of the emerging Christian identity was the lived life of the community in mission. The story of Jesus was told, the style of life he called men and women to be lived, and the proclamation of the good news was continued. Gradually, as the first disciples died, the communities were faced with a new challenge: how to faithfully continue the lived life of the community in mission. The writing of the Gospels was one of the ways in which this challenge was met. Scripture scholars today date the earliest of them, Mark's Gospel, to about 65 A.D., those of Matthew and Luke (and his Acts of the Apostles as well) to about 70, and John to about 90. A primary concern of the writers, especially of Luke, was to provide a sense of continuity, connecting the present day communities of disciples to those who had walked with Jesus, those who themselves had listened to his words and observed his style of life.