In today's Gospel Acclamation "[w]e proclaim Christ crucified; he is the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Cor 1 23a-24b). In that power the apostles left the place from which Jesus ascended into heaven and went about the world preaching the good news of Jesus' life, death and resurrection, revealing the depth, the length, the width and breadth of God's love for us. Prior to Jesus' resurrection, the apostles were men filled with fear. They fled for their lives and hid themselves behind locked doors, fearing that what happened to Jesus on the cross would be their fate as well.
Just as God held nothing back to show us the way to salvation, justice, mercy and forgiveness, so, too, following Jesus' ascension into heaven and His sending the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, nothing held the apostles back from preaching the crucified Christ as "the power of God and the wisdom of God." The apostles and the disciples of Jesus were no longer afraid of those who could harm the body. Their spirits were fortified by the Holy Spirit. Love for Christ cast out all fear. Focused on the Lord and relying upon the Lord, they became fierce proclaimers, if you will. Like St. Francis of Assisi, Jesus was their God and their All!
You and I are also asked to go out to all the world the proclaim the Gospel of Christ by word and by action. May we, with the author of today's responsorial psalm, promise that "[t]he favors of the Lord [we] will sing forever; through all generations [our mouths] shall proclaim [Jesus'] faithfulness" (Ps. 89).
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