Saturday in the Octave of Easter
April 15, 2023
Daily Reading from the USCCB: Acts 4:13-21
The Jewish leaders don’t know what to do with the apostles. So they take a “neutral” stance. They don’t assume a definitive position about Jesus. That will come later. For now, they simply tell the apostles to keep quiet about Jesus.
And this of course, is precisely what the apostles cannot do. To obey the Jewish officials would be to disobey God. The apostles are giving witness to their faith, and the Jewish officials are left at an impasse.
Not infrequently non-believers want the community of the faithful to keep quiet. Many of the Church’s teachings–for example about the meaning of human life, about justice, about sin and salvation–are challenging to outsiders. They were in these first days after Jesus’ resurrection and they are now.
Dear +Daniel – Thank you!
I have noticed that the Evangelical Christians have been more vocal about speaking out against the injustices in our midst than my fellow Roman Catholics. I have to admire those people at times. They seem to have more courage than us Catholics. Maybe we Catholics are more worried about being diplomatic, for whatever reason.
Let me add to what I wrote above, that I have noticed on the Quora website that the communists in China are so paranoid about their fellow Chinese being influenced by Christian ideas that they have banned Quora in their country! It’s as if the mere mention of the word “Jesus” is like the throwing of water on the wicked witches in the Wizard of Oz story and how they would melt in the process.