3/30/2016 – Acts 3:11-26 – Wednesday of first week of Easter –

     Peter and John were heading to the Temple to pray in today’s narrative from the Acts of the Apostles when a lame man stopped them, asking them for some money.   Instead of just giving this man alms, they heal him through the help of the Holy Spirit.   The man is so overjoyed.   He leaps for joy and sings praises to God.  We will hear the continuation of this reading tomorrow, as all this movement draws the attention of a large crowd, giving Peter the opportunity to preach to the people about Jesus, about what his passion and his journey to the cross, about how Jesus calls the people to repent and to become his followers.  That is the thing about miracles.  It is not the miracle itself that draws our attention, but rather the power and the truth behind the miracle, the way it teaches us about God’s kingdom and about our faith. 

     We hear a lot about repentance in our Catholic faith.  “Turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel” was the admonition that was proclaimed to us at our Ash Wednesday liturgy as we received that smudge of ash on our foreheads.   How we respond to the resurrection of Christ and make it a reality in our lives is what this joyful Easter season is all about.  May we hear the message of Christ in the words of Peter today.  We may need to be comforted by the Good News of Christ, yet we also need to radically repent and to be challenged by the Gospel message.  May we in turn bring this message of conversion and repentance to others.