The Word Among Us
Today's Meditation: Acts 2:14, 22-33
Hear these words! (Acts 2:22)
The Book of Acts—which we will be reading throughout this Easter season—is so much more than a history of the early Church. It’s a book about the power of the Holy Spirit! Throughout its pages, we read how the Spirit worked through regular people to make them into bold apostles and witnesses to Christ.
Because it speaks about so many lives being powerfully transformed, Acts also gives us hope and encouragement for our lives. What happened in the apostles can happen in us as well.
Today’s reading describes the first of many scenes in Acts in which the Holy Spirit empowered the apostles to build the Church on earth. This passage also describes the first fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy before he ascended into heaven: “You will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Here, in Jerusalem, Peter preached, and thousands came to believe.
As Acts progresses, we will read how Peter and other disciples, like Stephen, preached the gospel in Jerusalem and the surrounding area of Judea. Then, the focus will shift to Philip, who spread the gospel even farther when he proclaimed Christ in Samaria. Finally, we will witness Paul bringing the message and the power of salvation throughout Asia Minor, then into Greece, and lastly to Rome and “the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). And in every scene, we can see the Holy Spirit working powerfully through these anointed messengers of God.
Stories like the ones recorded in Acts continue to happen today through the preaching and witness of Jesus’ disciples—and that means you. Like Peter, Philip, Paul, and all the others, you too have received the Holy Spirit. He is with you to help you witness to Jesus and build his kingdom here on earth. So as the Easter season unfolds, ask Jesus to fill you with his Spirit and to make you into his witness. He desires it and will surely help you to fulfill your calling.
“Father, you are looking for people to send out as witnesses to your Son. Here I am, Lord. Send me!”
Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-11
Matthew 28:8-15
Homily of the DayApril 13, 2020Monday in the Octave of Easter
Truth is a tricky thing. Stories are inherently biased, and as these get passed on from one to the other, we discover just how malleable they can be. We ourselves bend the truth every so often, whether for “noble” reasons like protecting loved ones from disgrace or disillusion, or for more selfish ones like avoiding consequences of wrong actions we persist in doing.
In today’s gospel reading, the price of the truth was an easy lie from the chief priests and a “good sum of money.” The high priests loved the limelight. It was imperative to keep their fellow Jews in the dark, lest the truth of the resurrection set them free—and into the light of the Risen Lord. The resurrection, after all, is the single most important event in our religious history. It signals our ransom and freedom from sin, and the triumph over death in all its forms—not just physically, but spiritually. The empty tomb is an eternal symbol of hope.
In our lives, how often are we tempted to manipulate the truth so we don’t look like the bad guys? Does this approach set us free, as we hope? In this season of renewal, let us avoid trapping ourselves in webs of lies and resolve to stand for truth and the freedom it brings. The resurrection is real, and like truth, it will prevail in our lives, undenied. And this is something worth telling the world.
