God made me do it! Peter defends himself in today’s first reading from Acts by claiming, “I didn’t want to do it, God made me do it!” What did Peter do? He went to non-Jews, Gentiles, and preached to them. Some of the Jewish Christians, the “circumcised believers”...
Who is Jesus? This question is the core question of our faith and the core question in John’s Gospel. In today’s Gospel Jesus answers this question: “I am the bread of life.” Jesus has used similar images to describe himself elsewhere in John Gospel. In his...
In today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles we hear the story of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. The Greek word “martyr” means witness. In the beginning of Acts the risen Jesus commissions his disciples to be Spirit empowered witnesses: “But you will...
In today’s first reading from Acts we hear the Jewish Pharisee Gamaliel give wise and sage advice. He advises restraint in their dealings with the early Jewish Christian Community. He refers to two other Jewish “revolutionary” leaders, Theudas and Judas the...
In today’s Gospel we hear the story of Nicodemus. The Evangelist tells us that he is a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. Like many others in this Gospel, Nicodemus comes to Jesus searching and seeking: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God,...
