Catholic Commentary
A Summary: Peace and Growth of the Church
31So the assemblies throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were built up. They were multiplied, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 9:31 records that the churches throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced peace and spiritual growth, with believers multiplying while walking in reverence for the Lord and receiving comfort from the Holy Spirit. This summary statement marks a pivot point in Acts, signaling that the first stage of the gospel's expansion throughout Israel had been accomplished despite the cessation of Saul's persecution.
The early Church did not grow because circumstances eased, but because she walked in reverent awe of God and was actively consoled by the Holy Spirit.
"Multiplied, walking in the fear of the Lord"
The quantitative growth ("multiplied") is inseparable from the qualitative disposition ("walking in the fear of the Lord"). Luke presents these as a single movement, not in tension. The "fear of the Lord" (phobos tou Kyriou) is a foundational Old Testament virtue — the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10; Sir 1:14), the animating spirit of covenantal faithfulness (Deut 10:12). In the context of Acts, Kyrios refers unmistakably to Jesus, the risen Lord. To fear the Lord is to stand in worshipful, obedient awe before the Risen Christ — not servile terror, but filial reverence. The community multiplies precisely because it walks in this reverence; numerical growth is the fruit of authentic discipleship.
"In the comfort of the Holy Spirit" (παρακλήσει τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος)
The word paraklēsis — comfort, consolation, exhortation — directly echoes the title Jesus gives the Spirit in John's Gospel: Paraclete (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7). This is no coincidence. The Spirit promised by Christ is actively present in the Church, not merely as an abstract principle but as a living, consoling, guiding presence. The community does not merely endure; it is comforted — held, encouraged, and exhorted — by the Spirit of God. Together, "fear of the Lord" and "comfort of the Holy Spirit" describe the two poles of the Christian life: reverent awe before divine majesty, and tender confidence in divine love.
From a Catholic perspective, Acts 9:31 is a concise but rich ecclesiological icon — a window into what the Church is and how she grows, illuminated by the fullness of Catholic Tradition.
The Church as One and Local The interplay of singular and plural ekklēsia in the manuscript tradition mirrors the Catholic understanding articulated in Lumen Gentium §23 and developed in Communionis Notio (CDF, 1992): "The universal Church is… a communion of Churches." Each local church is a genuine realization of the one Church of Christ, not merely an administrative unit. The churches of Judea, Galilee, and Samaria are truly "the Church" — and yet they are one.
The Holy Spirit as Soul of the Church Pope Leo XIII, in Divinum Illud Munus (1897), wrote that "the Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church." Acts 9:31 gives this teaching its narrative flesh: the Church breathes, grows, and finds comfort precisely through the Paraclete's active presence. The Catechism (CCC §797) draws on Augustine's famous formulation: "What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ, which is the Church."
"Fear of the Lord" as Gift of the Spirit Catholic tradition, drawing on Isaiah 11:2–3, numbers the Fear of the Lord among the seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologiae II-II, q. 19) distinguishes servile fear from filial fear, insisting that the perfected fear of the saints is a gift that draws one deeper into love, not away from it. Acts 9:31 presents both gifts — fear and consolation — as simultaneously operative, confirming Aquinas's insight that they are not opposed but complementary.
Peace as Fruit, Not Condition The peace the Church enjoys is not a precondition for growth but its fruit. This aligns with the Catechism's teaching (CCC §2304) that peace is "the work of justice and the effect of charity," and with Augustine's famous definition in City of God (XIX.13): "the tranquility of order." The Church flourishes not because circumstances are easy, but because she is rightly ordered toward God.
Acts 9:31 describes a Church that is simultaneously peaceful, edified, growing, reverent, and consoled — and it is worth pausing to ask whether our contemporary parishes, dioceses, and movements recognize themselves in this portrait, or feel its sting as a rebuke.
The verse quietly insists that authentic numerical growth — the kind that comes from God — is inseparable from the interior quality of community life. A parish that multiplies programs but neglects the "fear of the Lord" — genuine, formative encounter with the holiness of God in the liturgy, in confession, in Eucharistic adoration — will find its growth shallow. Conversely, a community that cultivates reverence but excludes the "comfort of the Holy Spirit" — pastoral warmth, accompaniment, charismatic gifts, genuine fraternity — becomes a museum, not a body.
Concretely: Catholics today might ask whether their parish's growth strategy begins with the two things Luke names here — a renewed culture of reverent worship (does Sunday Mass look like an encounter with the holy?) and active reliance on the Spirit's consolation (are people encountering the Paraclete in prayer groups, spiritual direction, and the sacraments?). Both poles must be present. The Church Luke describes was not busy managing herself into growth; she was walking — the word implies daily, habitual movement — in awe and consolation. That posture, recovered, is still generative.
Commentary
The Literary Function of the Summary (v. 31)
Luke punctuates Acts with a series of carefully placed "summary statements" (cf. Acts 2:42–47; 4:32–35; 5:12–16; 6:7; 12:24; 19:20) that serve as theological refrains, not merely editorial transitions. Acts 9:31 comes at a pivot point in the entire book: the account of Saul's conversion (9:1–19), his early preaching (9:20–25), his visit to Jerusalem (9:26–30), and his departure to Tarsus (9:30) have concluded. The immediate source of violent persecution — Saul himself — has been transformed. Luke uses this moment of external calm to inventory the Church's interior and exterior flourishing.
"The assemblies throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria"
The Greek ekklēsiai (ἐκκλησίαι) — rendered "assemblies" or "churches" — is notable. Some early manuscripts read the singular ekklēsia, emphasizing the unity of the one Church expressed in many local communities; the plural is more widely attested and reflects the diversity of local gatherings. Either way, Luke's geographic sweep is deeply intentional. Judea, Galilee, and Samaria together constitute the entirety of the land of Israel. This is the precise territory Jesus outlined in Acts 1:8 — "you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" — and this verse signals that the first stage of that missionary mandate has been accomplished. The gospel has filled the land of Israel. The mention of Galilee is striking: it is the only time Acts explicitly mentions a Galilean church, reminding the reader that the movement of Jesus began in that northern region and has since spread outward in every direction.
"Had peace"
The Greek eirēnē (εἰρήνη) carries the full resonance of the Hebrew shalom — not merely the absence of external persecution (though the pause in Saul's campaign is part of this), but a condition of wholeness, harmony, and rightness between the communities and God. This peace is not a human achievement; it arrives as gift. The connection to the "Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6) and to Christ's own post-resurrection greeting — "Peace be with you" (John 20:19–21) — is unmistakable. The Church's peace is christological at its root.
"Were built up" (οἰκοδομουμένη)
The verb oikodomeō — to build, to edify, to construct — is one of Paul's favorite ecclesiological metaphors (1 Cor 3:9–17; Eph 2:19–22). The Church is being constructed like a living temple, stone by stone, person by person. This building is internal as much as external — it refers to growth in faith, charity, and doctrine. The passive voice implies God as the primary builder; the community is acted upon by divine grace.