• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

The Passionists of Holy Cross Province

The Love that Compels

  • Online Masses
    • Passionist Online Masses and Services
  • 300th Jubilee
    • Opening Mass of the Passionist Jubilee Year
    • Video: 300th Jubilee – English
    • Video: Jubileo Pasionista – Español
    • Jubilee Icon Itinerary
    • Jubilee Resources
    • Jubilee Song
  • Pray
    • Daily Reflections
    • Prayer Request
    • Sunday Homily
    • Passionist Spirituality and Prayer
    • Stations of the Cross
    • Prayer and Seasonal Cards
  • Grow
    • Journey into the Mystery of Christ Crucified
    • Celebrating the Feast of St. Paul of the Cross
    • Subscribe to E-News
    • Passionist Magazine
      • Passionist Magazine, Spring 2020
    • Passionist Ministries
      • Preaching
      • Hispanic Ministry
      • Haiti
      • Parish Life
      • Earth and Spirit Center
      • Education
      • Fr. Cedric Pisegna, CP, Live with Passion!
    • Retreat Centers
    • Passionist Solidarity Network
    • Sacred Heart Monastery
      • History of Sacred Heart Monastery
      • A Day in the Life of Senior Passionists
      • “Pillars” of the Community
  • Join
    • Nicholas Divine, CP, Ordination to the Diaconate
    • Are You Being Called?
    • Discerning Your Call
    • Pray With Us
    • Passionist Vocation Directors
    • Lay Partnerships
  • Connect
    • Find a Passionist
    • Passionist Websites
    • Fr. Cedric Pisegna, CP, Live with Passion!
    • Passionist Alumni Association
      • Reunions
      • 2019 Passionist Alumni Reunion
      • Welcome
      • Letter from the Provincial
        • These Men We Call Our Brothers
      • Mission Statement
      • CrossRoads Bulletin
      • Alumni Enrollment Form
        • Alumni Survey
      • Reunion Photo Gallery
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Monthly Giving
    • Leave a Legacy
      • Giving Matters
      • Ways to Give
      • Donor Relations
      • Testimonials
    • Prayer and Seasonal Cards
    • Privacy Policy Statement
  • Learn
    • Our Founder
    • History
    • The Letters of St. Paul of the Cross
    • The Diary of St. Paul of the Cross
    • Mission and Charism
    • Saints and Blesseds
    • FAQs
    • Find a Passionist
    • STUDIES IN PASSIONIST HISTORY AND SPIRITUALITY
  • Safe Environments

Daily Scripture, April 12, 2010

Scripture:

Acts 4:23-31
John 3:1-8

Reflection:

When Jesus was alive, it seemed that the Apostles never understood his true mission.  They came to believe he was the Messiah but were blinded by their assumptions about what the Messiah was to be about.  They were thinking about an earthly kingdom and worldly power.  Jesus challenged them over and over to think beyond their preconceptions but they managed to cling to their expectations right up to the arrest and death of Jesus.  However, that experience dashed all their hopes and killed their tightly held expectations!  They ended up locked up in an Upper Room filled with fear and darkness.

The resurrection of Jesus caught them totally unawares and changed everything.  After a little confusion at the beginning few days, they quickly took up the new life and vision Jesus offered them.

In today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles we see them carrying on the mission Jesus had given them with commitment and confidence.  The chief priests and elders had chastised and confined both Peter and John because they kept proclaiming that Jesus was alive.  Yet they were not intimidated or cowed.  They returned to their own people and affirmed that though "Herod, Pontius Pilate, together with the gentiles and the peoples of Israel" had "stood against the Lord’s anointed One," they themselves would continue "to speak the word of God with boldness."

The Word of God they continued to speak was not condemnation for the evil acts of the people and their leaders, but rather a word of healing, recalling the signs and wonders done through the name of Jesus.  The Word of God is a Word that brings life to those who hear it and take it to heart.  There is no place in the hearts of the early Apostles for revenge or recriminations.

As disciples of Jesus, we, too, are called to speak the Word of God to our generation.  To do so faithfully our hearts must also be filled with the same love and compassion that is so clear in the life of Jesus and the lives of Peter, John and the other Apostles.  May God continue to open our hearts to his Word of love so that we speak that Word clearly and boldly as did Peter and John.

 

Fr. Michael Higgins, C.P. is the director of lay formation for Holy Cross Province and is stationed at Immaculate Conception Retreat in Chicago.

 

Footer

Facebook Feed

Support the Passionists

Contact the Passionists

The Passionists of Holy Cross Province
660 Busse Highway | Park Ridge, IL 60068
Tel: 847.518.8844 | Toll-free: 800.295.9048 | Fax: 847.518.0461
Safe Environments | Board Member Portal | Copyright © 2021 | Log in