1st Reading, Sunday June 29, Solemnity: St Peter and St Paul, Apostles

From: Acts 12:1-11

Persecution by Herod. Peter's Arrest and Deliverance

[1] About that time Herod the king laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. [2] He killed James the brother of John with the sword; [3] and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. [4] And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. [5] So Peter was kept in prison; but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

[6] The very night when Herod was about to bring him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison; [7] and behold, an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, "Get up quickly." And the chains fell off his hands. [8] And the angel said to him, "Dress yourself and put on your sandals." And he did so. And he said to him, "Wrap your mantle around you and follow me." [9] And he went out and followed him; he did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. [10] When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened to them of its own accord, and they went out and passed on through one street; and immediately the angel left him. [11] And Peter came to himself, and said, "Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting."
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Commentary:

1-19. This is an account of persecution of the Church by Herod Agrippa (37-44), which took place before the visit of Paul and Barnabas to the Holy City(cf. 11:30).

The information given in this chapter about the latest persecution of the Jerusalem community--more severe and more general than the earlier crises (cf. 5:17; 8:1) -- gives an accurate picture of the situation in Palestine and describes events in chronological sequence. Prior to this the Roman governors more or less protected the rights of the Jerusalem Christians. Now Agrippa, in his desire to ingratiate himself with the Pharisees, abandons the Christians to the growing resentment and hatred the Jewish authorities and people feel towards them.

This chapter brings to an end, so to speak, the story of the first Christian community in Jerusalem. From now on, attention is concentrated on the church of Antioch. The last stage of the Palestinian Judeo-Christian church, under the direction of James "the brother of the Lord", will not experience the expansion enjoyed by other churches, due to the grave turn which events take in the Holy Land.

1. This Herod is the third prince of that name to appear in the New Testament. He was a grandson of Herod the Great, who built the new temple of Jerusalem and was responsible for the massacre of the Holy Innocents (cf. Mt 2:16); he was also a nephew of Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee at the time of our Lord's death. Herod Agrippa I was a favorite of the emperor Caligula, who gradually gave him more territory and allowed him to use the title of king. Agrippa I managed to extend his authority over all the territory his grandfather had ruled: Roman governors had ruled Judea up to the year 41, but in that year it was given over to Herod. He was a sophisticated type of person, a diplomat, so bent on consolidating his power that he had became a master of intrigue and a total opportunist. For largely political motives he practiced Judaism with a certain rigor.

2. James the Greater would have been martyred in the year 42 or 43. He was the first Apostle to die for the faith and the only one whose death is mentioned in the New Testament. The Liturgy of the Hours says of him: "The son of Zebedee and the brother of John, he was born in Bethsaida. He witnessed the principal miracles performed by our Lord and was put to death by Herod around the year 42. He is held in special veneration in the city of Compostela, where a famous church is dedicated to his name."

"The Lord permits this death," Chrysostom observes, "to show his murderers that these events do not cause the Christians to retreat or desist" ("Hom. on Acts", 26).

5. "Notice the feelings of the faithful towards their pastors. They do not riot or rebel; they have recourse to prayer, which can solve all problems. They do not say to themselves: we do not count, there is no point in our praying for him. Their love led them to pray and they did not think along those lines. Have you noticed what these persecutors did without intending to? They made (their victims) more determined to\ stand the test, and (the faithful) more zealous and loving" ("Hom. on Acts", 26).

St Luke, whose Gospel reports our Lord's words on perseverance in prayer (cf. 11:13; 18:1-8), here stresses that God listens to the whole community's prayer for Peter. He plans in his providence to save the Apostle for the benefit of the Church, but he wants the outcome to be seen as an answer to the Church's fervent prayer.

7-10. The Lord comes to Peter's help by sending an angel, who opens the prison and leads him out. This miraculous freeing of the Apostle is similar to what happened at the time of Peter and John's detention (5:19f) and when Paul and Silas are imprisoned in Philippi (16:19ff).

This extraordinary event, which must be understood exactly as it is described, shows the loving care God takes of those whom he entrusts with a mission. They must strive to fulfill it, but they will "see" for themselves that he guides their steps and watches over them.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.