25 April 2025 – Friday in the Octave of Easter
Homily
At the beginning of Eastertide, the liturgical lectionary, for the first reading at mass, draws extensively from the first chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, which describe for us the experience of the Apostles and of the first Christian community in Jerusalem, immediately after the death and resurrection of Jesus, and especially after Pentecost. The Apostles, who were so faint-hearted at the time of the Passion, are now filled with the Holy Spirit and they speak publicly and forcefully in the name of Jesus, and perform miracles in his name. When they are forbidden to do so, they simply reply that they must obey God rather than men.