Take Courage

A Reflection on the First Reading for April 24th, 2022:
Divine Mercy Sunday

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Acts
5.12-16

Many signs and wonders were done among the people through the Apostles. And the believers were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high esteem.

Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he came by.

A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.
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“None of the rest dared to join them... ”

Obviously, no one wanted to meet the same end as Jesus Himself. But despite the fact that they were held in high esteem, no one dared to join the Apostles.  

Although I call myself a follower of Christ, I can identify with it being dangerous to join His Church. In some parts of the world, martyrdom is a very real possibility — and we are fortunate here in Canada that our ‘martyrdom’, though certainly not painless, usually means being ridiculed and ostracized for standing up for what the Church teaches.

What prevents me from daring to live in the power of the Holy Spirit like the Apostles? 

What if I don’t know the answer to a question or falter in a debate? What if I pray for someone and it doesn’t come to fruition? What if they think I’m crazy? What if it negatively affects someone else’s belief in God? What if my worst-case scenario comes to pass? 

All these questions come from the part of my mind that is accustomed to self-sufficiency and seeks control, likely as a result of my own painful experiences of disappointment, embarrassment and grief. But even through my understandable desire to avoid these difficult feelings, I can see that the fear behind these questions fails to allow God to take His rightful place as Author of All and the Ultimate Good. 

Only He knows how my prayers should be answered. 

The more I live in the power of the Holy Spirit, the more I will see the world with His eyes, and know that He does indeed desire healing for all — but that He will accomplish it His way, in His time.

The truth remains that the more I take courage to pray for and truly love others, the more likely it is that I will see signs and wonders in His mighty name.

In this week following the greatest feast of the Church, may we live in the power of the Holy Spirit as did the first believers — the first witnesses of the resurrection — and bring forth signs and wonders, regardless of the cost, as we rest in the peace that God’s sovereignty brings. 

May we dare to join them.




​Lindsay Elford
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