Monday of the
Second Week of Easter
(Acts 4:23-31; John 3:1-8)
In Leonard Bernstein’s epic musical Mass, the epistle is sung as a tribute to the “Word of the Lord.” Addressed to “men of power,” the song exalts
what the Acts of the Apostles teaches about the indomitableness of God’s
message. Over the long run, the song
says, God’s message of love will conquer the pride, ambition, and contempt of
the powerful.
In today’s passage from Acts, Peter and John have just
returned from being told by the Jewish Sanhedrin never to speak the name of
Jesus again. The apostles, having openly
defied the order, now pray with the Christian community for strength. Their stance is confirmed as the room shakes
with the approval of the people moved by the Holy Spirit.
Although apparently harmless, the Word of God can
threaten the selfish interests of the privileged because it speaks with truth
to the heart. We must study it,
understand it, and preach it as God’s humble servants called to do His will in
a too often careless world.
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