A Jesuit Catholic University
in Omaha, Nebraska, since 1878

[266] Acts 4:13-21 Ps 118:1+14-15ab, 16-18, 19-21 Mark 16:9-15

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer The Daily Reflections

Holy Week- Now that it’s over we can finally bust into the Girl Scout cookies, re-activate our facebook pages, and eradicate fish sticks from our freezers-Thank God! Jesus has risen, and man, have I missed Pinterest!

It is a good thing Christ’s love for us is not dependent upon what we do or don’t do during Lent.
During Holy Week alone, the apostles denied Jesus, fell asleep, betrayed him, and straight up abandoned him. At this rate, the Twelve could very well beat out Lindsey Lohan’s posse in a competition for best mean girl. Yet, these are the men Jesus called his closest friends. These are the men with whom Jesus left his ministry.

When Peter denied Jesus he escaped an arguably life threatening situation. If Peter had boldly proclaimed his discipleship, he could have been killed by the brewing mob. Through his denial, Peter preserved his earthly life, but he also allowed for his own spiritual degradation. By embracing his own life, Peter not only rejected knowing Christ, he embraced fear of physical death and allowed fear to overwhelm his faith. In the responsorial psalm, it is written, “I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord… he has not delivered me to death.”

Why do we deny Christ in our lives? Why do we allow fear to grip our hearts and cloud our minds? During this Easter season, let us stand boldly and revel in the beauty of the most perfect sacrifice. Jesus tells us to love others as he loves us. Let us be like the apostles who chose to live with Christ by proclaiming his ministry instead of allowing fear to silence them.

“It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4: 13-21).