This is the greatest week of the year and one of the greatest of our lives. "Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it so much as dawned on man what God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Cor 2:9). The risen Christ is giving us "a remarkable show of power" (Acts 4:16). God's people are proclaiming the resurrection through salvation, deliverance, healing, signs, and wonders. Satan, the prince of death, is convulsing before the glory of the risen Christ.
Satan uses people to give us "a stern warning never to mention" Jesus' name to anyone again. Because he can't stop the risen Christ, he tries to stop us from being witnesses of the Lord. Like Peter and John, we must respond: "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight for us to obey you rather than God. Surely we cannot help speaking of what we have heard and seen" (Acts 4:19-20).
Jesus continues to command us: "Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to all creation" (Mk 16:15). We must not let the good news of the resurrection be entombed in selfishness and fear. He is risen! The stone is rolled away; the tomb is empty. Jesus is risen! He has conquered death and He lives forever. In Him, we too are victorious over death. "Death is swallowed up in victory" (1 Cor 15:54). Alleluia!
| PRAYER: | Father, may I share the good news of Jesus' resurrection with several thousand people before I die and go to heaven. |
| PROMISE: | "The man thus miraculously cured was more than forty years of age." –Acts 4:22 |
| PRAISE: | Praise Jesus, Whose Word has not been stopped in over two thousand years! Alleluia! |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College