From: Acts 8:5-8, 14-17
Philip’s Preaching in Samaria
Peter and John in Samaria
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Commentary:
5. This is not Philip the Apostle (1:13) but one of the seven deacons appointed
to look after Christians in need (6:5). The Gospel is proclaimed to the Samaritans
— who also were awaiting the Messiah. This means that it now spreads beyond
the borders of Judea once and for all, and our Lord’s promise (Acts 1:8) is fulfilled:
“You shall by My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria.”
The despised Samaritans became the first to benefit from the Gospel’s determi-
nation to spread all over the world. We can sense St. Luke’s pleasure in reporting
its proclamation to the Samaritans; earlier he had already showed them in a favo-
rable light: he is the only Evangelist to recount the parable of the Good Samaritan
(cf. Luke 10:30-37) and to mention that the leper who came back to thank Jesus
after being cured was a Samaritan (cf. Luke 17:16). On the Samaritans in general,
see the note on John 4:20.
14-17. Here we see the Apostles exercising through Peter and John the authority
they have over the entire Church. The two Apostles proceed to confirm the dis-
ciples recently baptized by Philip: we may presume that in addition to laying their
hands on them to communicate the Holy Spirit, the Apostles made sure that they
had a correct grasp of the central points of the Gospel message. At this time the
Apostles constituted the spiritual center of the Church and took an active interest
in ensuring that the new communities were conscious of the links — doctrinal and
affective — that united them to the mother community in Jerusalem.
This passage bears witness to the existence of Baptism and the gift of the Holy
Spirit (or Confirmation) as two distinct sacramental rites. The most important ef-
fects Christian Baptism has are the infusion of initial grace and the remission of
Original Sin and any personal sin; it is the first sacrament a person receives,
which is why it is called the “door of the Church”.
There is a close connection between Baptism and Confirmation, so much so that
in the early centuries of Christianity, Confirmation was administered immediately
after Baptism. There is a clear distinction between these two sacraments of
Christian initiation, which helps us understand the different effects they have. A
useful comparison is the difference, in natural life, between conception and later
growth (cf. “St. Pius V Catechism”, II, 3, 5). “As nature intends that all her chil-
dren should grow and attain full maturity [...], so the Catholic Church, the com-
mon mother of all, earnestly wishes that, in those whom she has regenerated
by Baptism, the perfection of Christian manhood be completed” (”ibid.”, II, 3, 7).
“The nature of the Sacrament of Confirmation,” John Paul II explains, “grows out
of this endowment of strength which the Holy Spirit communicates to each bap-
tized person, to make him or her—as the well-known language of the Catechism
puts it—a perfect Christian and soldier of Christ, ready to witness boldly to His
resurrection and its redemptive power: ‘You shall be My witnesses’ (Acts 1:8)”
(”Homily”, 25 May 1980). “All Christians, incorporated into Christ and His Church
by Baptism, are consecrated to God. They are called to profess the faith which
they have received. By the Sacrament of Confirmation they are further endowed
by the Holy Spirit with special strength to be witnesses of Christ and sharers in
His mission of salvation” (”Homily in Limerick”, 1 October 1979). “This is a sa-
crament which in a special way associates us with the mission of the Apostles,
in that it inserts each baptized person into the apostolate of the Church” (”Homi-
ly in Cracow”, 10 June 1979). In the Sacrament of Confirmation divine grace anti-
cipates the aggressive and demoralizing temptations a young Christian man or
woman is likely to experience, and reminds them of the fact that they have a vo-
cation to holiness; it makes them feel more identified with the Church, their Mo-
ther, and helps them live in accordance with their Catholic beliefs and convic-
tions. From their formative years Christ makes them defenders of the faith.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.