Power in the name of Jesus and of faith in Christ

In the first reading of the vigil of Saints Peter and Paul, whose feast we celebrate today, we have the story of the crippled man who was brought to the gate of the temple each day to beg for alms (Acts. 3: 1-10).  When he saw Peter and John, he asked them for them alms as well. Peter looks intently at him and says: “ I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk.”

For a long time, my mind focused on the phrase: “…in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk.”  Finally, I picked up my pen and started writing.  What I heard Jesus saying to me in the depth of my heart was:

               “Rise up, Dorothy Ann, from self-putdowns, from  thinking ill of yourself.

               Rise up to the woman you are in my sight: a woman filled with grace.
               Rise up and walk in the light of that grace.
               Rise up in the power of the Spirit I have given you:

                              a Spirit of power,

                              a Spirit of hope,
                              a Spirit of optimism
                              a Spirit of faith.

               I brought you into this world in love.

               Live in my Love.
               Rise up in my Love.”

As I reflected further on this Scripture reading,I realized that Peter took the crippled man by the right hand and raised him up.  I, too, after being raised up to new life in Christ Jesus, need to share that faith with others, lifting them up by the right hand, raising them up as I was raised up.  The faith of Peter awakened the faith of the crippled man. We need each other to be awakened in our faith, to  live in Love, to rise above that which weighs us down, to take our rightful place in the ministry of discipleship and spread the News of the life, death and resurrection of Christ and to make a difference in the world of our day, as Peter and Paul did in their day.