The Acts of the Apostles is an astounding and inspiring testimony of faith of the first Christian community in Jerusalem. The apostles moved from being terrified hidden disciples of Jesus just after his Passion and death on the Cross to public witnesses of the resurrection of Christ. This transformation was seen in words, deeds, and lifestyle.
The lives of those first disciples were completed transformed by their experience of the resurrected Christ. From the testimony of the Gospels, we see that the risen Christ inserted himself into their lives and into the life of the community. This unexpected and undeserved manifestation of God’s love for them produced a deep sense of peace and joy. Sin and death were no longer controlling factors in their lives. The risen Christ inserted himself into all aspects of their life – work, prayer, community gatherings, the Word of God, the Eucharist, sharing of their personal lives, preaching, sharing of their material goods, and even confrontation with civil and religious leaders of the time.
Based on those experiences, they became bold public witnesses of God’s love and the resurrection of Christ. Their religious and moral lives became the center of everything for them. Today’s reading from Acts shows us how that first community of faith placed the urgency of sharing God’s love for all above the dictates of civil and religious leaders. Even though the religious/civil leaders of their time arrested them, prohibited them from preaching, placed them on trial, and persecuted them, those first Christians were steadfast in their faith and public witness.
Recent events in our time show that an increasing number of civil leaders believe that faith should be subserviate to civil dictates. They say that moral demands have no place in our public life nor our marketplace nor our public interrelationships with other peoples or nations. At the same time an increasing number of civil leaders with the support of some religious leaders attempt to justify their actions by uniting narrow civil projects with equally narrow religious interpretations.
It is astonishing to see how that first Christian community in Jerusalem was able to speak the truth, proclaim the love of God manifested in the risen Christ, and call all to conversion without surrendering to the whims of civil authorities of their times. They remained focused on their experience of risen Christ in their lives. This made them bold witnesses of joy, peace, and communion in the midst of difficult, violent, and chaotic times.
We must obey God rather than men…
We are witnesses of these things.
Image: CANVA CJ Dunn 14April2026 AI generated.