17 April 2020 - Friday of the octave of Easter - Acts 4:1-12

      Yesterday, in a wonderful reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard how the healing of a lame man gave Peter and John the opportunity to address the crowds about their need for repentance. Peter and John brought the reality of the risen Christ into the lives of the people, of how our faith in Jesus can work miracles in our lives.  Not only did Peter and John attract the attention of the crowds, but they also attracted the attention of the Sadducees, the head of the Temple guards, and the chief priests of the Temple, which we hear about in our first reading today.  Even though the authorities take Peter and John into custody, this gives Peter and John the opportunity to address the elders and to proclaim the message that the name of Jesus is the only name that truly saves.

      No matter who we are and not matter where we are in our journey of faith, we always have the opportunity to be witnesses of the faith in our words and our actions. In the lives of the community of saints, we hear of how different believers throughout history have been witnesses to the faith in different ways, how they still witness to the faith to us today.   Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz lived in Mexico in the 17th century, becoming a nun in the religious congregation of St Jerome.  She reminds me a lot of St Hildegard of Bingen, a renaissance woman who had so many gifts and talents, including being a poet, a composer of music, a philosopher and writer.  She died at the age of 46 from the plague, having contracted that disease while taking care of some of her fellow nuns.  Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz’s writings have been popularized in the 20th century and are widely read today in her native country of Mexico.  Her devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe mirrors the popularity of that apparition of Mary in Mexican popular culture.  Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz felt the call from God to live out her faith as a nun and to use her intellect in her search for God.  May each one of us hear the call that God has for us.