Acts 3: The healing power of Christ

As Peter and John go to the temple to pray, they come upon a lame beggar at the Beautiful Gate; he looks at them expectantly, hoping for a little money:

"But Peter said, 'I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!' And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God." (3:6-8)

We see, of course, that the apostles have been empowered to carry on Jesus' healing ministry. But I think we must also see ourselves in this story, in the roles both of Peter and of the beggar.

Whenever we meet someone who is suffering -- whether physically or spiritually -- we, like Peter, must be willing and eager to do whatever we can, to give whatever we have, to help him.

And like the lame beggar, we must acknowledge our own infirmities and accept the healing power of Christ with humility and joy.

We can experience a healing no less dramatic than the beggar's each time we turn away from sin and toward our loving Lord. As Peter says in his second sermon: "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord" (3:19-20).

(Image: Gustave Dore, "St. Peter and St. John at the Beautiful Gate," 19th century)