Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Acts 5,17-26

Then the high priest intervened with all his supporters from the party of the Sadducees. Filled with jealousy, they arrested the apostles and had them put in the public gaol. But at night the angel of the Lord opened the prison gates and said as he led them out, 'Go and take up position in the Temple, and tell the people all about this new Life.' They did as they were told; they went into the Temple at dawn and began to preach. When the high priest arrived, he and his supporters convened the Sanhedrin -- this was the full Senate of Israel -- and sent to the gaol for them to be brought. But when the officials arrived at the prison they found they were not inside, so they went back and reported, 'We found the gaol securely locked and the warders on duty at the gates, but when we unlocked the door we found no one inside.' When the captain of the Temple and the chief priests heard this news they wondered what could be happening. Then a man arrived with fresh news. 'Look!' he said, 'the men you imprisoned are in the Temple. They are standing there preaching to the people.' The captain went with his men and fetched them -- though not by force, for they were afraid that the people might stone them.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The passage of Acts narrates the arrest and miraculous liberation of the apostles. The text starts with the arrest ordered by the high priest and Sadducees because of their envy for the apostles' success among the people. The preaching of the Word of God was continuing to work miracles and the Christian community was growing in favour among people, but not among the priests and the Sadducees. We know that the same destiny that hit Jesus, strikes always the Christian community. But the Lord does not abandon his disciples in prison. And at night, an angel miraculously comes down and frees them from prison. The angel orders them again into the temple to preach the Gospel of Jesus to the people. We could say that by then it was impossible to chain the Word of God. In every time, some have tried to silence the Gospel. Even in the last century we have witnessed the tragedies caused by totalitarian regimes determined to silence the Gospel, imprisoning and killing its witnesses. And in our days, persecution against Christians seems to be intensifying. There is a mystery in the persecution of Christians. Why people rage against them? What harm do they do? In truth, Christians, meek and humble, with no particular claims to make, represent the radical contestation to the violence of evil. Evangelical meekness, sooner or later, breaks every chain of violence. That is why evil, not standing this meekness, wants in every way to eradicate it from the face of the earth. Christian gentleness is not aimed at eliminating persecutors: if anything, a prayer rises from the mouths of believers, even when they are in chains, for their enemies and persecutors.