O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth! — Psalm 8:2

Mass Readings: Acts 3:11-26/Luke 24:35-48 

The Perils of Witness 

Today Jesus tells the disciples that Scripture demands preaching repentance for sins in the Messiah’s name. You can almost hear them wondering, Who is going to do this preaching? But they already know the answer. “You are the witnesses of these things,” Jesus says. 

We know that they answered the call. We hear Peter delivering this very message in the first reading. Unfortunately, there was no witness protection program for the followers of Jesus. Most, like Peter, paid with their lives for telling others what they had seen and heard. Why? Because in the face of the Truth they had seen, silence would have been a lie. There is no protection for today’s Christian witnesses, either, although the modern “death penalty” is usually a social one. But Jesus’ commission is for all of us. 

Prayer: Jesus, you gave me the Truth. Don’t let me lie with silence.