fortitude

Acts 4:23-31; Psalm 2 Blessed are all who take refuge in the Lord; John 3:1-8

We arrive at a big moment in the life of the early church as we read deeper into the Acts of the Apostles.

Peter and John were arrested and held captive. The scribes and priests were seeking to eliminate the spread of the proclamation of Jesus in the surrounding areas.

It had become for the early church the hour of danger, a time of testing and trials.

What do Peter and John decide to do?

After being arrested, threatened, and warned to preach no more, Peter and John do several things.

First, they remembered what Jesus went through. The memory of Jesus gave them a stronger conviction of the truth of things.

Secondly, they called upon the strength of God. They recognized their own weakness so they invoked the power of God claim hold of their weakness and fill them with the courage and strength necessary to continue the task at hand.

Thirdly, they continued to do what they were commissioned to do, go make disciples of all nations.

Here we experience true fortitude, a cardinal virtue: firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good.