“What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6)
Again and again the apostles faced opposition in the carrying out of the mission of mercy given them by the Lord. Again and again the Church faced this opposition with prayer. In the first reading we hear how apostles who had been freed from jail after praying, now return to the faithful who had prayed for them and together the whole Church offered a prayer, inspired by the words of the Psalms. They name the opposition of religious and political leaders, and they ask that the Lord enable them to continue to share God’s word while God continues the work of healing through them.
As we do an examination of our lives as Catholics, how often do we live out the mission God has given us together? How often do we experience opposition together? How often is our first and our main response to pray together? Individuals get involved in disputes and oppose one another all the time for so many worthless things. They respond to one another with threats, with insults, with heated arguments. It is beautiful to hear in the Acts of the Apostles that they were not so many isolated and bickering individuals. They prayed together from the upper room on Pentecost to the Temple to homes to prison and back again. The Holy Spirit united them for the mission of sharing the news of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and the healing of body and soul that Christ’s suffering and rising brought. Let us ask for the grace to let this mission become more and more the focus of our lives, so that the Holy Spirit may unite us by focusing our minds and words and actions on Jesus. Let us pray that we then may face opposition prayerfully, not raging like so many do, but with the dignity and grace of those who know the Spirit who has given them a new birth, with generous hearts who seek that newness of life for all of our neighbors.