16 April 2026 -- Homily for Thursday of the Second Week of Easter
Homily
The account in the Acts of the Apostles that we are reading at the moment has something about it that is both deeply profound and somewhat comical. Luke, who is an excellent writer, knows how to convey a profound teaching using symbolic and poetic language. Here, he describes the early days of the Church in an almost light-hearted style.
The Apostles, having received the Holy Spirit, set about their mission as preachers of the Word and healers. Peter’s first great speech after Pentecost already brings about many conversions. Peter, accompanied by John, almost immediately begins his career as a healer by commanding the lame man standing at the Temple gate to walk. He then addresses the crowd with courage: ‘You put the Prince of Life to death, but God raised Him up. Repent!’ Peter and John are then thrown into prison and brought before the High Priest and the Sanhedrin, who forbid them to speak or act in the name of Jesus. To which they reply candidly: ‘Which do you think is right in God’s sight: to listen to Him, or to listen to you?’ They were then released and resumed teaching and performing miracles; this led to their arrest once again.
During the night, as we saw in yesterday’s reading, the angel of God opened the prison doors and sent them out to preach: ‘Go, tell the people all these words of life.’ They were arrested again and forbidden to speak of this Jesus. To which Peter replied: ‘We must obey God rather than men.’ And the account of these events, which unfold with surprising speed, is interspersed with descriptions of the life of the first community of believers in Jerusalem, which is already taking shape. And the final words of the passage we have just read already indicate that all this will lead the Apostles to their deaths, just like their Master. And they are well aware of this.
As the Gospel reading, we have had in recent days the account of Jesus’ meeting with Nicodemus. This account, in the current form of John’s Gospel, was followed by John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus in response to a request from his own disciples. John expresses his joy at being the forerunner of the Messiah. And then comes the text we have just heard, which immediately followed Jesus’ words to Nicodemus. This account summarizes in a few brief sentences the whole mystery of Salvation: God the Father sent His Son. The Son, who received the Spirit without measure, speaks what He has heard from His Father. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. The conclusion is of a clarity that almost makes one tremble, whether with joy or with fear: whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever refuses to believe (the verb “refuse” is important) will not see life.’ All the declarations of the Councils and all the volumes of theologians have added nothing to these few words: Whoever believes has life. Anything that can be added will be merely the consequences of these statements.
Armand Veilleux
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