Please read this passage before reading this homily.
Peter and John went to the temple to pray. The early believers in Christ in Jerusalem usually did this, until the temple was destroyed in 70 CE. For them it was normal. They had no other buildings but met in each other’s homes for Eucharist.
The story of the miraculous cure of the crippled man is told much the same way the stories of Jesus’ healings are told in the gospels. It is the same Jesus whose power is at work in Peter and John. It is not Peter and John who heal, but the healing is in the name of Jesus, which is to say in the person of Jesus or in the presence of Jesus. In other words, only Jesus gets the credit for the cure,
What effect did the healing have on the man? “Immediately” his feet and ankles grew strong. He leaped up, stood, walked around, and went into the temple walking and jumping and praising God. What a sight, seeing a fully grown adult running around like a little kid who has just learned how to walk. Not for this man to walk sedately and quietly into the temple.
The crowd was amazed.
We have been healed. We are celebrating the paschal mystery. We should be like the healed person. Why are we not leaping up and down and calling attention to our healing? We cannot argue our old age, or that people don’t do this nowadays. If we have risen with Christ, then our lives must show it. Are we more relaxed now? Do we seem happier? Do we put up with noise, other people and old age better? Do people wonder about our new attitude? If so or if anything like this, then people will revel in our healing and praise God for it.