Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

“The members of the church who had been dispersed went about preaching the word.” –Acts 8:4 When the early Christians were chased out of Jerusalem, they went to other towns and chased out unclean spirits. When the Church was being paralyzed and crippled from being persecuted, the wounded Church healed the paralytics and cripples. While the Christians mourned the deaths of martyrs, cities rejoiced because they heard and accepted the gospel (see Acts 8:1-8). The Lord works everything together for the good of the Church (see Rm 8:28). “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rm 8:31)...

“Those who listened to his words were stung to the heart.” –Acts 7:54 At the first Christian Pentecost, many of those who heard Peter preach “were stabbed in the heart” by his words and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:37, our transl). Three thousand of them repented, were baptized, and received the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:38, 41). After Stephen preached, the people hearing him “were cut to the heart” (Acts 7:54, our transl). Nevertheless, they did not repent. Rather, “they ground their teeth in anger at” Stephen (Acts 7:54). “The onlookers were shouting aloud, holding their...

“The way of truth I have chosen.” –Psalm 119:30 Jesus, the Truth (Jn 14:6), stood for the truth. He paid for this stand with His life, as His opponents used deceit, lies, and intimidation of witnesses to condemn Him to death. St. Stephen stood for the truth. He paid for this stand with his life, as his opponents likewise used deceit, lies, and intimidation of witnesses to condemn him to death. The Catholic Church stands for the truth, regardless of whether or not the truth is “politically correct.” The Church proclaims the truths that Jesus is really present in the...

“The apostles for their part left the Sanhedrin full of joy that they had been judged worthy of ill-treatment for the sake of the Name.” –Acts 5:41 Peter went back into the fishing business and quit following Jesus (see Jn 21:3). He probably did this because of his long-standing problems with Jesus’ command to take up the cross. When Jesus had first mentioned the cross to His disciples, Peter had downplayed the whole thing. Then “Jesus turned on Peter and said, ‘Get out of My sight, you satan!’ ” (Mt 16:23) Peter had made plans to stay on the mountain...

“The number of disciples grew.” –Acts 6:1 In our American society, we want more, and we want it fast. We even super-size our fast food. The Lord also wants more, and He wants it fast. However, He wants not more material things or more pleasures. Rather, He wants more conversions. He wants us to be able to say: “The word of God continued to spread, while at the same time the number of the disciples in Jerusalem enormously increased. There were many priests among those who embraced the faith” (Acts 6:7). Moreover, the Lord wants this great harvest of evangelization...