In today’s first reading, Act 4: 23-31 Peter and John,
having been reprimanded for speaking in Jesus’ name, return to their own people and reported what
the chief priests and elders had told them.
Everything done to stop the spread of Christianity and the work of the Spirit
failed. Those against Jesus would not prevail then or now, any more than Pharaoh
and the Egyptians thwarted God’s plan to
free the Israelites from slavery. In our
day, no one will stop God’s plan to save us from the forces that rise up
against Truth, against Christ and His presence in the world. The Holy Spirit
cannot be contained or silenced by
humans.
In today’s opening Scripture reading, Luke quotes the words
of King David, God’s servant, “Why did
the Gentiles rage and the peoples entertain folly? The kings of the earth took
their stand and the princes gathered together against the Lord and against his
anointed….Indeed they gathered in this city (Jerusalem) against your holy
servant Jesus whom you anointed, Herod and Pontius Pilate, together with the
Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do what your hand and your will had long
ago planned to take place.” As then, so,
now, persons who gather to voice their opinions against God’s
servants, against those doing good in the world, those standing up for the poor
and oppressed, those seeking justice and right relationships will,
inadvertently, be helping to forward God’s plan of salvation.
I have a choice to be a “Peter or a John,” a” Mary Magdalen
or a Veronica,” actively and knowingly witnessing to the Risen Christ by word
or deed or one of those who rant, rage or entertain folly in the world
of today. What choice will I make today?
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