Today, we celebrate the feast day of Pope Pius V. He served as pope in the era right after the Protestant Reformation. He was tasked with implementing the teachings of the Council of Trent. In this era, there were a lot of wars and conflicts amongst the various nations, there was the threat of invasion from the Muslims, and there was a lot of corruption that hampered the advancement of the faith. The Council of Trent closed in 1563 after meeting off and on for 18 years. Pope Pius V assumed his papacy in 1566. A member of the Dominicans, Pope Pius V founded new seminaries for the proper training of priests. He published a new Roman missal, a new breviary, and a new catechism. He also implemented legislation against abuses in the Church. Beyond that, he stressed service to the sick and the poor and provided food to the hungry. He received opposition to many of these reforms from the governments in places like France, England, and the Roman Empire.
We know from history and from the accounts of the Early Church that Peter, Paul, and some of the other apostles were imprisoned many times for the way that they publicly preached the Gospel to the world in the years right after Christ’s death and resurrection. This time, as recounted in today's first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, when Peter and a group of apostles are imprisoned, they are miraculously set free and they go out into the Temple area where they once again preach publicly about Jesus and his proclamation of God's kingdom. Others may try to imprison God’s word and may try to silence it, but we as disciples of Christ should always try to find a way to bring his word to others.
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