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A blessed Eastertide to all!

From: Acts 4:7-12

Address to the Sanhedrin

[7] And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “But what power or
by what name did you do this?” [8] Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to
them, “Rulers of the people and elders, [9] if we are being examined today con-
cerning a good deed done to a cripple, by what means this man has been healed,
[10] be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Je-
sus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by
Him this man is standing before you well. [11] This is the stone which was rejec-
ted by you builders, but which has become the head of the corner. [12] And
there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given
among men by which we must be saved.”

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Commentary:

8-12. The Apostles’ confidence and joy is quite remarkable, as is their outspo-
kenness in asserting that “we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard”
(verse 20). “This is the glorious freedom of the children of God. Christians who
let themselves be browbeaten or become inhibited or envious in the face of the
licentious behavior of those who do not accept the Word of God, show that they
have a very poor idea of the faith. If we truly fulfill the law of Christ—that is, if we
make the effort to do so, for we will not always fully succeed—we will find our-
selves endowed with a wonderful gallantry of spirit” (St. J. Escriva, “Friends of
God”, 38).

Christians have a duty to confess their faith where silence would mean its im-
plicit denial, disrespect for religion, an offense against God or scandal to their
neighbor. Thus Vatican II: “Christians should approach those who are outside
wisely, ‘in the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech’ (2 Corinthians 6:6-7),
and should strive, even to the shedding of their blood, to spread the light of life
with all confidence (Acts 4:29) and apostolic courage. The disciple has a grave
obligation to Christ, his Master, to grow daily in his knowledge of the truth he
has received from Him, to be faithful in announcing it and vigorous in defending
it” (”Dignitatis Humanae”, 14).

Pope Paul VI asked Catholics to check on any weak points in their faith, inclu-
ding ignorance and human respect, “that is, shame or timidness in professing
their faith. We are not speaking of that discretion or reserve which in a pluralist
and profane society like ours avoids certain signs of religion when with others.
We are referring to weakness, to failure to profess one’s own religious ideas for
fear of ridicule, criticism or others’ reactions [...] and which is a cause — perhaps
the main cause—of the abandonment of faith by people who simply conform to
whatever new environment they find themselves in” (Paul VI, “General Audience”,
19 June 1968).

8. Even in the very early days of Christianity Jesus’ prediction is borne out: “Be-
ware of men; for they will deliver you up to councils.... When they deliver you
up, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you
are to say will be given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit
of your Father speaking through you” (Matthew 10:17-20).

10. “Whom God raised from the dead”: St. Peter once again bears witness to
the Resurrection of Jesus, the central truth of apostolic preaching; he uses here
the same words as he did at Pentecost. These are compatible with our holding
that Jesus “rose by His own power on the third day” (Paul VI, “Creed of the Peo-
ple of God”, 12). The power by which Christ rose was that of His divine person,
to which both His soul and His body remained joined even after death separated
them. “The divine power and operation of the Father and of the Son is one and
the same; hence it follows that Christ rose by the power of the Father and by His
own power” (St. Thomas Aquinas, “Summa Theologiae”, III, q. 53, a. 4).

“By the word ‘Resurrection’,” the “St. Pius V Catechism” explains, “we are not
merely to understand that Christ was raised from the dead, which happened to
many others, but that He rose by His own power and virtue, a singular preroga-
tive peculiar to Him alone. For it is incompatible with nature and was never given
to man to raise himself by his own power, from death to life. This was reserved
for the almighty power of God. [...] We sometimes, it is true, read in Scripture
that He was raised by the Father; but this refers to Him as man, just as those
passages on the other hand, which say that He rose by His own power, relate
to Him as God” (I, 6, 8).

11. St. Peter applies the words of Psalm 118:22 to Jesus, conscious no doubt
that our Lord had referred to Himself as the stone rejected by the builders which
had become the cornerstone, the stone which keeps the whole structure toge-
ther (cf. Matthew 21:42 and par.).

12. Invocation of the name of Jesus is all-powerful because this is our Savior’s
own name (cf. note on Matthew 1:21). Our Lord Himself told His Apostles this:
“If you ask anything of the Father, He will give it to you in My name” (John 16:23),
and they, trusting in this promise, work miracles and obtain conversions “in the
name of Jesus”. Today—as ever—the power of His name will work wonder in the
souls of those who call upon Him. Monsignor Escriva gives this advice: “Don’t
be afraid to call our Lord by His name—Jesus—and to tell Him that you love Him”
(”The Way”, 303); and the Liturgy of the Hours invites us to pray: “God our
Father, You are calling us to prayer, at the same hour as the Apostles went up
to the temple. Grant that the prayer we offer with sincere hearts in the name of
Jesus may bring salvation to all who call upon that holy name” (Week 1, Monday
afternoon).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.

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“Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” — St Jerome

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Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)

For: Sunday, April 26, 2015

4th Sunday of Easter