Acts of the Apostles

The first reading in the Liturgy of the Word usually comes from the Old Testament.  However, following the liturgical tradition of the Churches in the East, the Roman lectionary does not use the Old Testament during the fifty days from Easter to Pentecost.  Instead, we hear readings from Acts of the Apostles.  It appears that this tradition is a very ancient one, established in the early Church and mentioned by St. Augustine in the fifth century.  Why do we read Acts during the Easter season?

 Acts was written by the same author as the Gospel of Luke, and it is really the second volume of a two-volume history.  Like the Gospels, it is not a “history” in the sense of an eyewitness account.  Luke himself says, at the beginning of his gospel, that “many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.” (Luke 1: 1-2)  Acts is Luke’s collection of stories about the early Church, and an explanation of how Christianity spread under the direction of the Holy Spirit.

In Acts of the Apostles, we learn how the eleven remaining apostles replaced the apostle Judas with Matthias, and about the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles.  But Acts is mostly about two of the apostles, Peter and Paul, including Paul’s conversion and his missionary travels.  In Acts, we read about the first church council in Jerusalem, where a decision was made to accept Gentiles as Christians without requiring that they also become practicing Jews.  We discover how the believers celebrated Eucharist together and shared their belongings, and how the Gospel message was preached, first to Jews in the synagogues and later to Gentiles.

As the apostles preached and performed signs and wonders, Luke tells us, they were persecuted by the Jewish leaders, but would not stop evangelizing because, as Peter says, “We must obey God rather than human authority.”  A wise Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel tells the council, “…if this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them…”

We read Acts of the Apostles between Easter and Pentecost because it shows the remarkable transformation in Jesus’ followers as they come to terms with the reality of His resurrection.  After receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, they do what all disciples of Christ are called to do: carry their faith beyond the communities of their own people and share it with the world.