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The Acts show us what were these effects: the Apostles were
enlightened and fortified, and their sanctifying influence
transformed the first Christians; there was a transport of intense
fervour in the infant Church.
First of all, the Apostles received a much greater enlightenment
from the Holy Spirit regarding the price of the Blood of the
Saviour, regarding the mystery of Redemption, foretold in the Old
Testament and fulfilled in the New. They received the fulness of
the contemplation of this mystery which they were now to preach to
humanity for the salvation of men. St. Thomas says that
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'the
preaching of the word of God must proceed from the fulness of
contemplation.' [91]
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This was most fully verified at that time, as
we may see from the first sermons of St. Peter related in the Acts
and from that of St. Stephen before his martyrdom. These words of
St. Peter and St. Stephen recall the saying of the Psalmist:
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'Thy
word is exceedingly refined and thy servant hath loved it.' [92]
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The Apostles and the disciples, men without education, were still
asking on the day of the Ascension:
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'Lord, wilt thou at this time
restore the kingdom of Israel?'
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Jesus had answered:
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'It is not for
you to know the times or moments which the Father hath put in his
own power. But you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost
coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem
and in all Judaea and Samaria, and even to the uttermost parts of
the earth.' [93]
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And now behold Peter. He who before the Passion had trembled at
the word of a woman, who had been so slow to believe the
resurrection of the Master, now stands before the Jews, saying to
them with an authority that can come only from God:
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'Jesus of
Nazareth, a man approved of God by miracles and wonders and signs
which God did by him in the midst of you... this same being
delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge [94] of
God, you by the hands of wicked men have crucified and slain. Him
God hath raised up [as David foretold].... This Jesus God hath
raised again, whereof all we are witnesses... he hath poured forth
this which you see and hear.... Therefore let all the house of
Israel know most certainly that God hath made both Lord and Christ
this same Jesus whom you have crucified.' [95]
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Herein lies the
whole mystery of the Redemption. Peter now sees that Jesus was a
willing victim, and he contemplates the infinite value of His
merits and of the Blood which He shed.
The Acts add that those who heard this discourse
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'had compunction
in their heart and said to Peter: What shall we do? Peter
answered. Do penance and be baptized every one of you in the name
of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins. And you shall receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost. '
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And so it came to pass, and on that
day about three thousand persons were converted and received the
sacrament of baptism. [96]
Some days later, Peter said to the Jews in the temple, after the
cure of a man who had been lame from birth:
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'The author of life
you killed, whom God hath raised from the dead; of which we are
witnesses.... Our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you
crucified... this is the stone which was rejected by you the
builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there
salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven
given to men, whereby we must be saved.' [97]
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In this enumeration
of the graces of Pentecost we must notice chiefly, not the gift of
tongues or other powers of this kind, but rather that special
illumination which enabled the Apostles to enter into the depths
of the mystery of the Incarnation, and more particularly of the
Passion of Christ. This is the mystery of which Peter could not
bear the prediction, when Jesus said that He was to be crucified:
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'Lord, be it far from thee; this shall not be unto thee.'
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And
Jesus answered:
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'Thou savourest not the things that are of God,
but the things that are of men.' [98]
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Now Peter has an
understanding of the things of God, and he contemplates the whole
economy of the mystery of the redemptive Incarnation. And it is
not only he who is thus enlightened. All the Apostles bear witness
in like manner, and the disciples also, and the deacon, St.
Stephen, who, before being stoned to death, reminded the Jews of
all that God had done for the chosen people in the time of the
Patriarchs, in the time of Moses and, since then, until the coming
of the Saviour. [99]
But the Apostles were not only enlightened on the day of
Pentecost, they were also strengthened and confirmed. Jesus had
promised them:
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'You shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost
coming upon you.' [100]
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Fearful before Pentecost, they are now
full of courage, even to the point of martyrdom. Peter and John,
arrested and haled before the Sanhedrin, declare that
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'there is no
salvation in any other'
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than in Jesus Christ. Arrested again, and
beaten with rods,
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' they went forth from the presence of the
council rejoicing that they were accounted worthy to suffer
reproach for the name of Jesus. And every day they ceased not, in
the temple and from house to house, to teach and preach Christ
Jesus.' [101]
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They all bore testimony to Christ in their blood.
Who had given them the strength to do this? The Holy Spirit, by
enkindling the living fire of charity in their hearts.
Such was their third conversion; it was a complete transformation
of their souls. Their first conversion had made them disciples of
the Master, attracted by the sublime beauty of His teaching; the
second, at the end of the Passion, had enabled them to divine the
fecundity of the mystery of the Cross, enlightened as it was by
the Resurrection which followed it; the third conversion fills
them with the profound conviction of this mystery, a mystery which
they will constantly live until their martyrdom.
The transformation which the Apostles had undergone is shown also
in their sanctifying influence, in the transport of intense
fervour which they communicated to the first Christians. As the
Acts show, [102] the life of the infant Church was a life of
marvellous sanctity;
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'the multitude of the believers had but one
heart and one soul';
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they had all things in common, they sold
their goods and brought the price of them to the Apostles that
they might distribute to each according to his needs. They met
together every day to pray, to hear the preaching of the Apostles,
and to celebrate the Eucharist. They were often seen assembled
together in prayer, and men wondered to see the charity that
reigned among them.
our Lord had said,
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'shall all men
know that you are my disciples.'
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Bossuet has given an admirable description of the fervour of the
first Christians, in his third sermon for the feast of Pentecost.
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'
They are strong in the face of peril, but they are tender in the
love of their brethren; the almighty Spirit who guides them well
knows the secret of reconciling the most opposite tensions.... He
gives them a heart of flesh... made tender by charity... and He
makes them hard as iron or steel in the face of peril.... He
strengthens and He softens, but in a manner all His own. For these
are the same hearts of the disciples, which seem as diamonds in
their invincible firmness, and which yet become human hearts and
hearts of flesh by brotherly love. This is the effect of the
heavenly fire that rests upon them this day. It has softened the
hearts of the faithful, it has, so to speak, melted them into
one....
The Apostles of the Son of God had once disputed concerning the
primacy; but now that the Holy Spirit has made them of one heart
and one soul they are no longer jealous or quarrelsome. It seems
to them that through Peter they all speak, that with him they all
preside, and if his shadow heals the sick the whole Church has its
part in this gift and praises our Lord for it.'
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In the same way we
ought to regard one another as members of the same mystical body,
of which Christ is the head, and, far from allowing ourselves to
give way to jealousy or envy, we ought to rejoice with a holy joy
in the good qualities of our neighbour; for we profit by them as
the hand derives advantage from what the eye sees, or the ear
hears.
Such were the fruits of the transformation of the Apostles and the
disciples by the Holy Spirit.
But was the Holy Spirit sent to produce these marvellous fruits
only in the infant Church? Evidently not. He continues the same
work throughout the course of ages. His action in the Church is
apparent in the invincible strength that He gives her; a strength
which may be seen in the three centuries of persecution which she
underwent, and in the victory that she won over so many heresies.
Every Christian community, then, must conform to the example of
the infant Church. What must we learn from her?
To be of but one heart and one soul, and to banish all divisions
amongst us. To work for the extension of the kingdom of God in the
world, despite the difficulties with which we are confronted. To
believe firmly and practically in the indefectibility of the
Church, which is always holy, and never ceases to give birth to
saints. Like the early Christians we must bear with patience and
love the sufferings which God sends us. Let us with all our hearts
believe in the Holy Spirit who never ceases to give life to the
Church, and in the Communion of Saints.
If we saw the Church as she is in the most generous souls who live
most truly the life of the Church, she would appear most beautiful
in our sight, despite the human imperfections which are mingled
with the activity of her children. We rightly lament certain
blots, but let us not forget that if there is sometimes mud in the
valley at the foot of the mountains, on the summits there is
always snow of dazzling whiteness, air of great purity, and a
wonderful view that ever leads the eye to God.
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