Jun 29: Liberation Through the Word

Filippino Lippi: The Liberation of St. Peter from Prison (detail)
Cappella Brancacci, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, 1471-72

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

Reading I: Acts 12:1-11

Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hands of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting (NRSV, Acts 12:11).”

Father, at every moment in every place, you send your “angel,” the Word, now made flesh, to rescue you us from every evil, not by taking over in our lives, but by challenging us to accept and to grow in the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that brings us a share, indeed an ever-increasing share, in your divine life. With that life comes the power, made our very own, to vanquish evil and triumph over all adversity even in the midst of apparent defeat.

As Jesus passed triumphantly through death to the resurrection, and Peter overcame personal weakness and all obstacles, may we too, by accepting the challenge in the moment always to grow in grace, be victors over all that would enslave us.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.