As we celebrate the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, we are given the powerful Scripture passage from Acts 12: 1-11, in which we are told of Peter's imprisonment and the miraculous intervention of an angel. Herod has Peter shackled hands and feet, secured by double chains and guarded by "four squads of four soldiers each." On the very night when he is to be brought to trial, an angel taps Peter on his side, awakens him and says: "Get up quickly." We are told that the chains then fall off Peter's wrists and he is further instructed to put on his belt, his sandals and his cloak and follow the angel out of the prison, past a series of guards and through a locked gate that suddenly opens all by itself. Imagine being Peter! He must have wondered: "What the heck is happening to me? Am I dreaming? Is this real?" And suddenly, he finds himself a free man and the angel is no where to be found!
St. Paul also experiences in his life a powerful intervention that confirms that God has plans for him that he, also, never dreamt of--he is knocked down on his way to Damascus, blinded by the light and given back his sight miraculously by Ananias, who the Lord instructs to assist Paul, the man who was on a mission to imprison Christians! Ananias initially resists, saying: "No way, Lord. This man is a dangerous person. I want nothing to do with him." The Lord prevails! God's plan will become a reality for Paul, as for Peter! And it will for you and me and the world, as well!
God works in your life and in mine and in the world of our day, as He did in the time of Peter and Paul. Unfortunately, the news media focuses mostly on the presence of evil in our world and so we may be less aware of the presence of good, the presence of angels and the interventions our God.
I might ask myself: What is your focus? For what are you looking? I can look for the good and focus on it or I can focus mainly on the evil, on sin, on the negative within myself and within others. Upon what do you focus?
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