Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Friday in the Octave of Easter, April 10th, 2026

Delivered by Ariel from the Parish of Saint Albert the Great in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 4: 1-12; Rs psalm 118: 1-2.4.22-24.25-27a; John 21: 1-14.IN THE NAME OF JESUS ​​CHRIST Our meditation today has the theme: In the Name ofJesus Christ. The Easter message of peace continued to be preached and sharedto many people. The proclamation of the gospel of the risen Christ showed evena significant growth and brought along its fruits. Peace as the Easter greatestgift is not just a beautiful word that can be employed to be just an emptypromise, but it truly embodies the person of the risen Christ. God himself isforever our peace and this cannot reduce over time until His message of peacemeets its end. The peace that we pursue and create in this life takes itssource from the peace of God. Our growth and practices of faith really help us tocreate peace in this life on earth. This is expressed in every act of lovewhich is the greatest divine law that we must practice. On this basis, Peterand the rest of the apostles were sure of love and mercy that they put intopractice so as to bring peace to the people they served. To bring peace toeveryone and the environment around us, we are taught to use this basicformula: In the name of Jesus Christ. It is mostly hoped that with this phraseof prayer,the Lord Jesus Christ as our Peacemaker enters and dwells in thosewho receive the gift of His blessings.  On another occasion at the beach, when Peter and therest of the apostles returned to their routine fishing activities, the risenJesus appeared and showing them a gesture that brought peace and joy. He gavean example of service by providing them food to eat as the fishing worksalready exhausted them out. The washing of the apostles' feet during theoccasion of the last supper was the main inspiration for all other forms ofservice. The spirit and act of service must be practiced continually in reallife by this first community of believers. Jesus wanted to emphasize that eventhough the apostles and disciples would return to their normal and routinelives, service must remain their primary spirit and act of growing as Hisfaithful followers. The inspiration from the two readings today illuminateour growth of faith with a wisdom from above, that every form of our act oflove which is manifested in various services should always be in the name ofthe Lord Jesus Christ. The legitimacy or justification for this manifestationis Jesus Christ Himself. By using "in the name of Jesus Christ", wetruly believe that this name is above all forms of name, label, status, andfigure. With "in the name of Jesus Christ", all the rulers of theworld and even the power of darkness such as Satan and his servants are madeobedient and are under the control of the almighty God. So with "in thename of Jesus Christ", we live our lives every day under God's protectionand guidance. As an expression of faith integrated in our Christian prayers, wealways pray by saying: "In the name of the Lord Jesus" or"Through the intercession of Jesus Christ", and by this we entrustourselves to God, our Father. Let'spray. In the name of the Father ... O Father in heaven, send us your Spirit tostrengthen and guide our lives as every time we say: In the name of JesusChrist. Hail Mary, full of grace ... In the name of the Father ...