Acts 1:12-14
Chapter 1
12
First Report on the Community in Jerusalem
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount called Olives, which is a fifteen-minute walk away.13
On entering the city, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. Present there were Peter, John, James, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James, son of Alpheus; Simon the Zealot; and Judas, son of James.
14
They all gathered together and were constantly united in prayer. With them were some women, as well as Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
Commentaries
First Report on the Community in Jerusalem.
This is the book’s initial summary. They serve as narrative pauses that link the main themes and provide key insights. This section highlights the core of the early Church: the apostles, the women, and the family of Jesus. As at the beginning of his Gospel, Luke prominently emphasizes Mary. She could not be absent from the birth of the Church. In 1965, after the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI declared Mary the “Mother of the Church.” In 2018, Pope Francis established the memorial for the Monday after Pentecost. The phrase “some women” indicates that, at the Church’s inception, there was no discrimination against women in fulfilling its mission. This report marks the start of the second phase in the disciples’ preparation: the coming of the Spirit. The small group gathered in the upper room of the house where they were staying, where they remained “in constant prayer.”