When they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and they asked Peter and the other Apostles, “What are we to do, my brothers?” // Acts 2:37
“Oooh, that was such a good homily.” I exchanged a glance with my husband as I shared my appreciation after Mass one Sunday. I texted with a friend about the “mind-blowing” messages, too. That afternoon, I immediately went about living the same as always—unchanged by the Gospel.
In contrast, the people who heard Peter’s message in the First Reading from Acts were cut to the heart. They heard Peter’s message, and rather than brush him off as “just one more wacko prophet,” avoiding his gaze as they shuffled about their daily business, they responded.
Instead of returning to “business as usual” as I so often do, or distracting themselves from the uneasy feeling that their lives needed to change, they asked for more.
These people allowed the truth to pierce their hearts, realizing their lives had to change. So they asked, “What are we to do?” Peter called them to repentance, and again the people allowed this invitation to penetrate their lives. They responded yes with their lives, being baptized and then guided by the Holy Spirit.
Since reading how these early believers changed their lives, I’ve been looking back to see how I’ve been changed by the Resurrection and how I’ve let Jesus be Lord in my life. How am I changed by the Resurrection and continued outpouring of graces even today in 2024?
Knowing that Jesus conquered death and rose in glory ought to cause our hearts to skip a beat and our minds to desire change, asking as the Jews of today’s Reading did, “What are we to do?”
Today, we continue to rejoice in Easter. Alleluia! Let today also be the day the Word cuts to your heart. Let today be the day of renewed life in your soul, because the grace of God continues to pour forth just for you.
Lord, fill my heart again with joy in Your Resurrection, and by the grace of the Holy Spirit, show me what You are asking of me in this season. Show me how to live more fully for You. Amen.
Gina Fensterer is a wife and mother of six children. She is passionate about finding God in the ordinary moments of her vocation. She loves Adoration, praying with Scripture, long morning walks, and fitness. She was a contributing author to And Hay Became Holy and our children's devotional prayer book called Rise Up. Read more by her here.
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