{"id":723,"date":"2015-04-16T20:19:21","date_gmt":"2015-04-17T01:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/?p=723"},"modified":"2015-06-03T20:22:27","modified_gmt":"2015-06-04T01:22:27","slug":"peters-pretty-bold-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/?p=723","title":{"rendered":"Peter’s Pretty Bold Talk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thursday of 2nd<\/sup> Week of Easter<\/h2>\n

Acts 5: 27-33; John 3: 31-36<\/h2>\n

Deacon Larry Brockman<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pretty Bold Talk, that\u2019s what Peter\u2019s speech to the Sanhedrin was.\u00a0 You see, the Apostles had been herded in front of the authorities once before this, and told not to preach about Jesus.\u00a0 And they magically escaped from them that first time.\u00a0 So this was the second time the authorities summoned them.\u00a0 Just think about it for a moment.\u00a0 The authorities arrested, tried, convicted, and executed Jesus using the most painful and humiliating form of execution they had- the cross.\u00a0 And in the time just after Jesus was buried the Apostles cowered together behind closed doors afraid that they would suffer the same fate as Jesus.\u00a0 .<\/p>\n

But, emboldened by the Resurrection, Jesus\u2019 followers preached fearlessly in Jesus\u2019 name, even after being arrested once, and despite the authorities command to stop.\u00a0 They were bold and fearless, that\u2019s how real the Resurrection was to them- a life changing experience; an experience that wiped out all fear of what those who run the world could or might do.<\/p>\n

Now, in the Gospel, Jesus tells his Apostles early in his 3 year ministry that whoever listens to him, listens to God himself.\u00a0 He tells them that most everyone will not listen; but everlasting life will be given to those who do listen.\u00a0 Jesus showed his Apostles that everlasting life was real when he appeared to them in his Resurrected state. After that, nothing could hold them back. No more cowering in an upper room out of fear. The only thing that mattered was their faith in Jesus and following his commands.<\/p>\n

This formula is the pattern that has been set for all of us. That\u2019s what the celebration of Easter is all about, reminding us that the same promise made to the Apostles has been made to us.\u00a0 We have heard about the Resurrection from the multiple Gospel accounts, eye witnesses who spread the word through countless generations to us.\u00a0 And now, we are being called to be witnesses to the world, not just to the Resurrection, but to all that Jesus said and did during his ministry.<\/p>\n

The other day, someone posted a cartoon on Facebook that made a fascinating point.\u00a0 The cartoon showed Jesus sending his Apostles out two by two after the Resurrection.\u00a0 And under it was the caption.\u00a0 \u201cAnd if they don\u2019t like what you say, change your story\u201d.\u00a0 But Jesus was not running for office- Jesus was God\u2019s messenger, and God\u2019s word is absolute- not related to what it takes to be popular, and not related to the times.\u00a0 Jesus words in our Gospel validate that the truth of God\u2019s message takes precedence over everything else.<\/p>\n

Did you know that the Government called some of our bishops in to a meeting when the HHS mandate was being considered\u00a0 and basically told the bishops it was time to for the Church to get with it and come around to the 21st<\/sup> century.\u00a0 They were pressuring our bishops to do just what the cynical cartoon I mentioned above said to do.\u00a0 The bishops politely told the HHS no.<\/p>\n

We are called to do the same in our lives, to be witnesses for Christ.\u00a0 God\u2019s word takes precedence, not what is politically correct; not what is expedient; and not what it takes to just get along.<\/p>\n

There are lots of opportunities for us to be witnesses.\u00a0 We may not be called on the carpet in front of the authorities as the Apostles were, but people challenge our Catholic teachings all the time- teachings on Abortion, on marriage, on the Eucharist, \u00a0on belief in God, and on the dignity of all human persons.\u00a0 They challenge us in our jobs, in our social settings, and in our communities.\u00a0 And we are called to be witnesses of the truth, just as Jesus was in our Gospel.\u00a0 We are called to speak up, and not be silent on the inconvenient and unpopular truth of the word of God.<\/p>\n

And have no fear, because God does not ration his spirit; He will inspire all of us to do and say the right thing if we vow to be his witnesses to the truth.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s pretty bold talk, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thursday of 2nd Week of Easter Acts 5: 27-33; John 3: 31-36 Deacon Larry Brockman   Pretty Bold Talk, that\u2019s what Peter\u2019s speech to the Sanhedrin was.\u00a0 You see, the Apostles had been herded in front of the authorities once before this, and told not to preach about Jesus.\u00a0 And they magically escaped from them […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[344],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=723"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":724,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723\/revisions\/724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}