Acts 4: 23-31
After they were released, Peter and John went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. When they heard it, they raised their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and everything in them, it is you who said by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant:
‘Why did the Gentiles rage,
and the peoples imagine vain things?
The kings of the earth took their stand,
and the rulers have gathered together
against the Lord and against his Messiah.’
For in this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Speaking the Word with Boldness
“As they prayed, the place where they were gathered shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”
One of the first phrases in the Exsultet at the Easter Vigil is “Let this holy building shake with joy, filled with the mighty voices of the peoples!” Have you ever been part of a gathering that prayed, sang, and responded such that the building seemed to shake? I have on a few occasions. At this year’s Easter Vigil, the whole congregation emphatically responded “I do!” as we renewed our baptismal promises. There were many broad smiles in the congregation. At a convention for church music directors (a group unafraid to respond and sing so they can be heard!), I think we startled the archbishop at the closing Mass: the wall of sound carrying “And with your spirit!” came back to him stronger than he’d ever heard it before. I leave gatherings like that encouraged by the confidence of those present. By encouraging one another in joyful faith, we are able to continue speaking the word of God with boldness.
—Molly Mattingly is the Music Ministry Coordinator at Creighton University Campus Ministry and St. John’s Parish in Omaha.
Prayer
Lord, fill us with your Holy Spirit and let us encourage one another to live your word with joy and confidence.
—Molly Mattingly