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Acts 3:11-26
As the crippled man who had been cured clung to Peter and John,
all the people hurried in amazement toward them
in the portico called “Solomon’s Portico.”
When Peter saw this, he addressed the people,
“You children of Israel, why are you amazed at this,
and why do you look so intently at us
as if we had made him walk by our own power or piety?
The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,
the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus
whom you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presence,
when he had decided to release him.
You denied the Holy and Righteous One
and asked that a murderer be released to you.
The author of life you put to death,
but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses.
And by faith in his name,
this man, whom you see and know, his name has made strong,
and the faith that comes through it
has given him this perfect health,
in the presence of all of you.
Now I know, brothers and sisters,
that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did;
but God has thus brought to fulfillment
what he had announced beforehand
through the mouth of all the prophets,
that his Christ would suffer.
Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away,
and that the Lord may grant you times of refreshment
and send you the Christ already appointed for you, Jesus,
whom heaven must receive until the times of universal restoration
of which God spoke through the mouth
of his holy prophets from of old.
For Moses said:
A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you
from among your own kin;
to him you shall listen in all that he may say to you.
Everyone who does not listen to that prophet
will be cut off from the people.
“Moreover, all the prophets who spoke,
from Samuel and those afterwards, also announced these days.
You are the children of the prophets
and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors
when he said to Abraham,
In your offspring all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
For you first, God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you
by turning each of you from your evil ways.”
The Word of the Lord.
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Although we’re in the Easter season, our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles takes us back to Good Friday.
Peter is preaching to that bloodthirsty crowd who shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
Imagine being part of the crowd that day, longing to see the Lord hang upon a cross. Each voice is like another nail, piercing his limbs.
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It’s hard to imagine a greater sin than that. In a sense, each person in the crowd is playing the role of Judas.
And yet, a bold, confident Peter stands in their midst urging them to repent.
“Now I know, brothers and sisters, that you acted out of ignorance…Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away.”
It’s that simple. Although their sins were grave, all they must do is repent of their sins and they will be, “wiped away.”
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Isn’t that the way the Lord sees all of us?
Whenever we sin – regardless of what it is – he simply whispers in our hearts, “Repent, that your sins may be wiped away.”
God asks nothing more of us.
Imagine how beautiful our world would be if we could act in the same way, readily forgiving others like Jesus.
It’s possible! Consider Peter. In extending the Lord’s forgiveness, he also offers his own.
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Am I in need of forgiveness? Is there someone the Lord is urging me to forgive?
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Faith, hope, and love. These are the highest of all the virtues. But the greatest is love, because love always hopes, always forgives, and always perseveres.
Even as the crowds shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Christ’s love persevered.
It’s that same love we’re called to share with one another.
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