20 - Chains Broken: The Apostles’ Miraculous Escape

The story starts in the dark—iron chains, rough pits, watchful guards—and moves toward a freedom that no wall can hold. We open the door on Peter and Paul’s most dramatic moments: an angel waking a bound apostle in the night, an earthquake splitting open a prison, and a frightened jailer on the brink who finds mercy before he finds an exit. What looks like escape turns out to be something richer: courage that returns to the work, compassion that stops for a stranger, and trust that God’s timing is better than our plans.

We trace why Peter became such a problem for the Sadducees, how preaching the resurrection threatened more than theology, and why the early church read these rescues as signs that the gospel outlives every attempt to contain it. Peter’s chains—now venerated in Rome—become a symbol of authority and endurance, proof that witness can thrive under pressure. Paul’s choice to stay rather than run reshapes a household through baptism, reframing freedom as the power to love when fear says “save yourself.”

Across these moments, a single thread holds: providence. Sometimes the angel comes, sometimes the quake, sometimes only the quiet resolve to keep speaking truth. We talk about the real prisons we face today—addiction, bitterness, anxiety, systems that shrink our humanity—and how Christian freedom heals the will instead of bypassing it. If you’ve ever wondered whether faith makes people naïve or brave, these stories answer with a lived, tested courage that turns cells into pulpits and setbacks into beginnings.

If this conversation challenged you or lifted you, share it with a friend, subscribe for more, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway so we can keep growing this community together.

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Jordan Whiteko, Father Andrew Hamilton, Father Christopher Pujol, Vincent Reilly, Cliff Gorski, John Zylka, Sarah Hartner

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:01):
You're listening to the Catholic Acting podcast.
We discussed the act that Jesusperformed that stunned his
disciples.
Great to be back, Jordan.
You don't know us by now, you'renever gonna know.
I'm Jordan Waco here with FatherHamilton and Father Pooja.
And we're both stunned.
Alright, so today we're talkingabout the Apostles' miraculous

(00:23):
escape.
There was a prison break, right?
Peter and Paul.
Today's episode focuses on theprison escape found in Acts of
the Apostles.
What would prisons have beenlike back then?

SPEAKER_02 (00:34):
I'm assuming not fun.
They're probably just a postwith and holes holes in the
ground.

SPEAKER_01 (00:39):
Yeah, there's no cots, I guess, huh?

SPEAKER_00 (00:40):
No, and they were chained.
They we know they were allchained.

SPEAKER_01 (00:44):
Okay.
So they're chained to the wall,so they couldn't even move
around.

SPEAKER_00 (00:49):
No, it's like the There wasn't a lot of room for
activities.
Yeah.
You would not want to.

SPEAKER_01 (00:53):
They couldn't like bang a cup off the bars.

SPEAKER_00 (00:55):
No.
No.

SPEAKER_02 (00:56):
I haven't thought of that imagery forever.

SPEAKER_00 (00:59):
Now, Peter or Paul probably would have been treated
a little bit better because hewas a Roman citizen, but not
much.
I mean, as we said in a previousepisode.
Yeah, but you know, as we saidin a previous episode, the best
he could get by his executionwas beheading.
So don't expect it to be aluxury resort.

SPEAKER_01 (01:19):
Spoiler alert.
We're talking about the escaperight now.

SPEAKER_00 (01:23):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (01:24):
So both that's much later.
Both St.
Peter and St.
Paul have miraculous escapesfrom prison.
The first account is of SaintPeter uh in prison because of
miracles he was performing.
So what happened that m gotSaint Peter thrown into prison?

SPEAKER_00 (01:39):
Father, why don't you tell us about the story of
Ananias?

SPEAKER_02 (01:41):
Well, before Ananias, basically Peter's
working up a lot of the peoplethat are in power around these
areas, namely the Sadducees whohave a lot of political power.
And so they seek to try to throwhim in prison.
But the fun story, I don't knowif it's that fun, but of course
2,000 years later, it is we canlaugh about it.
Ananias and his wife, they havemoney that they're collecting

(02:03):
for the Christian community.

SPEAKER_00 (02:05):
So they're like the first ushers taking up the
collection.
I guess.

SPEAKER_02 (02:08):
But if ushers decided to then keep all the
money for themselves and notsend it up in the basket and
then lie about it.
To Peter.
To Peter.
Spoiler alert, it doesn't gowell.
This is why you don't lie, kids.
Ananias and his wife are deadafter that.
It's not implied that Peterkilled them or anything else

(02:28):
like that, but something'sdeveloped in happening.
Yeah.
And so lying and stealing goingtogether.
The guilt got to them.
A remedy for destruction.

SPEAKER_00 (02:36):
Well, it shows what happens when we break the Ten
Commandments.
Mortal sin.
Mortal sin and full removal fromthe from God and his presence.

SPEAKER_02 (02:45):
And so after that, then we get directly that Peter
is thrown in prison, butprobably more so from the
Sadducees.
And there he's seen because theythink that he No, not
necessarily.
Why he's in prison is because ofRaporousing.
Of preaching the message ofJesus resurrected from the dead,
and the Sadducees don't believein the resurrection.
If Jesus is true, then theSadducees kind of lose their own

(03:09):
political authority.
You see what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 (03:12):
And at this point, the Sadducees want to get the
whole community of elderstogether to put them on trial.
Who are the Sadducees?
It's going to take some time, sothey have to hold him.

SPEAKER_02 (03:20):
The Sadducees were the religious authorities of
Jesus' time.
So not just like based on theTorah or the Old Testament
scriptures, but really werethose that were in charge of the
temple area in worship, thepriests.
So they're like the guards, likethe police.

SPEAKER_00 (03:35):
No, I'm gonna look it up.

SPEAKER_01 (03:36):
Hold on.
Who they were philosophicalgurus who re uh who represented
the aristocratic Israelite upperclass.
They worked behind the scenes.

SPEAKER_00 (03:49):
So this is like a perfect storm to have Saint
Peter arrested because he'shealing the sick, he is
preaching the good news,exercising, and he's doing
exorcisms.

SPEAKER_02 (04:01):
Not exercising people is doing lunges or but
pull-ups.

SPEAKER_00 (04:06):
But demonic exorcisms, the driving out of
unclean spirits and a littleless fun.
And so that really starts to setoff a firestorm among the
community and the Sadducees'power over that community.

SPEAKER_01 (04:22):
Then what happened once Saint Peter is in prison?
Uh there's a story about anangel helping him, correct?
Can you tell me a little bitabout that?

SPEAKER_00 (04:32):
Yeah, the Lord came to his aid.

SPEAKER_02 (04:34):
Yeah, and so the angel coming to Peter in the
midst of the night.
In a vision, but real.
And then from there freeingPeter and the other companions
that have been arrested andthrown in prison uh because of
their stirring up the community.

SPEAKER_00 (04:48):
Which leads us to the second imprisonment of Saint
Peter.

SPEAKER_01 (04:52):
Because the next day they're found, like the very
next day they're found in thetemple, right?
Teaching.

SPEAKER_00 (04:57):
Right back at it.
Right back at it.
Yeah, like nothing everhappened.
Imagine being that guard.
I mean, he's definitely out of ajob.
They killed him.
So they did.

SPEAKER_01 (05:07):
So he's definitely out of the job.
Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 (05:10):
So we see Saint Peter and these Christian
people.
No healthcare benefits.
No, no severance pay.
Well, there wasn't maybe aseverance.
They severance stuff.
So they go right.
No, they go right back intotheir mission and ministry,
which shows that they're notafraid of what the world can do

(05:30):
to them because what they arepreaching is otherworldly.
And so then we see a little bitlater, St.
Peter is once again arrested forpreaching and for bringing up
these groups.
And what do they do?
This time they are going to makecertain that he's not going to
escape.
And so they have four guards,more chains.

(05:51):
I mean, he is in like totalisolation, cell blocker.
What do they say?
In the hole.
He's in the hole.
In the hole.
In the shoe.
And and that is where they wantto.
I never heard in the shoe.

SPEAKER_02 (06:06):
But he's like, old mother Hubbard.
Okay.

SPEAKER_01 (06:10):
So so he's he's in he's in solitary confinement,
and he's in lockdown.
But not just solitaryconfinement.
He is chained up like a magicianand has to but he's not Simon
the Magician.
No, he's not Simon the Magician,but he has to have have like
this great escape again.
Yeah.

(06:31):
Right.
So what did that look like?
Did did the angel help himagain, or who what helped him?

SPEAKER_02 (06:36):
The angel came back, right?
And so the idea, what it showsis that the message of God can't
be chained down by those thatare fighting against the gospel
message, that God will overcomeinsurmountable odds so that the
message is freed.
It's able to be spoken to thosethat need to hear it.
Those who have ears ought tohear.

SPEAKER_00 (06:57):
And it's a great example to us.
I mean, so when you go to Rome,Jordan, and you'll have to
visit, there's a little parishcalled San Pietro in Vincoli, in
Vincoli, which is St.
Peter in chains.
And underneath the high altar,you'll see a big crystal
reliquary where those chainsthat were bounding, binding St.
Peter in prison are now kept forveneration and view.

SPEAKER_01 (07:20):
Do they look rough?
Like what do they look like?

SPEAKER_00 (07:22):
They're old iron chains.

SPEAKER_01 (07:25):
Um not comfortable.

SPEAKER_00 (07:27):
Not comfortable, no.
And so they have been saved as asign of Christ's power and
Peter's primacy, as a as asymbol, like Father said, that
that nothing holds back the wordof God and nothing can contain
our preaching of the gospel.
It's it's worth noting that whenPeter is freed the second time

(07:48):
from prison, that he doesn'tflee from the area that he's
preaching at, but rather hereturns to the community close
to him of Christians to precareand to prepare to continue to
give his life for the gospel.

SPEAKER_01 (08:04):
So then where's Paul?
Because that's the other side ofthis prison break story or
stories that we're talking abouttoday.

SPEAKER_02 (08:12):
Paul's caught up as well in the same ordeal where
he's being put away because ofthe different miracles that are
being worked, the message thathe's bringing about, healings
and so forth.
And he finds himself landed inprison, just like Peter.
Again, we talked about thembeing twins in a way.
They really have a lot ofsimilarities to their stories

(08:33):
and and how they experience thesame thing.
Are these happening the sametime?

SPEAKER_01 (08:36):
Just in different locations?

SPEAKER_00 (08:38):
Within the same period, yeah, because they're
they're out there preaching atthe same time.

SPEAKER_01 (08:43):
When they were in the prison, they didn't actually
escape.
There was an earthquake that youknow rumbled the halls, right?

SPEAKER_00 (08:52):
For St.
Paul.
Yes.
Yes.
It's still an escape, but not inthe same way.
There's no angel freeing himthis time.

SPEAKER_01 (08:58):
So the earthquake opened the floor and they what?

SPEAKER_02 (09:02):
He went out.
But then on his way, going outfrom the prison, he sees that
the jailers there, probablyrecognizing that with this
earthquake, and now that there'snobody there, everybody has
escaped.
Oh, the jailer's like, I amgonna lose my job.
I'm gonna really afraid of theother thing that's I'm gonna
take my own severance packageright now.

(09:22):
So that's what he seeks to do sothat they don't enforce the law
upon him.
Which would be deaf.
Yeah.
And at that point, then Paulsteps in and says to him to not
do Do not harm yourself.
And then from there preaches tohim and asks him about baptism
and belief in Jesus.
And there the jailer takes Paulback to his family, and then

(09:44):
Paul has them all baptized.

SPEAKER_01 (09:46):
So that really shows you, like, you know, what Paul
was really like.
It wasn't about freeing like theearthquake.
Yes, he could have escaped andran off into the night, but he
stopped to help somebody else.

SPEAKER_00 (09:58):
Well, and I think Paul would have recognized part
of himself in the jailer,because we talked about how Paul
would often be present by theseum persecution of Christians and
and maybe even assisting.
And so now he has theopportunity to show him, show
the jailer, look how my life haschanged, look how many good

(10:21):
things have come out of itbecause of this Jesus.
And so he's a credible witness.
And so he's able to go to thefamily and and bring faith.

SPEAKER_02 (10:31):
What's so beautiful in these stories, too, about
Paul and Peter is that they haveto have faith in God's
providence, that God will takecare of them.
Now the angel came and freedPeter the first time, but that
doesn't mean the angel comesagain and frees him a second
time.
He has to continue to trust thatthe earthquake happens, that
Paul is taking care of in hismissionary uh abilities and

(10:55):
going forth.
It's all about God's providence,that they are giving themselves
to the mission and letting Godjust take care of everything
else.
And they're okay with it.
Whether they're imprisoned,whether they're free, whether
they're preaching the gospel,whether they're muffled by other
people not wanting them topreach, they just put themselves
at the disposition of God andthey go with it.

SPEAKER_01 (11:16):
And that was the exact rev revelation that the
jailer had, right?
Because then he takes them tohis house and baptizes his
entire family to free them aswell of sin.

SPEAKER_00 (11:27):
Yeah, that's interesting.
Frees them from sin, frees themfrom death.
And it's really that's the truechains that need broken in the
world.
The chains of sin which hold usback from our true life.

SPEAKER_01 (11:42):
Thanks for listening to the Catholic Accent Podcast.
Don't forget to follow, like,and subscribe to our show.

SPEAKER_02 (11:48):
What we really take away from these prison stories
and why they're important for usin the Acts of the Apostles is
that Jesus came to preachliberty to captives, not just in
a physical sense, but thatreally we were held spiritually
captive by the devil, the onethat wants to control us, that
wants to tie us down, ourattachments to not the creator,

(12:10):
but to the creature, the thingsof the world.
Which we would call sin.
And sin.
That's what sin is.
And so for us, Jesus comes tofree us by his own death and
resurrection, by the preachingof the gospel message through
the church, that there's so muchmore to life than just this
myopic little view, but it opensup a beautiful horizon of

(12:30):
freedom found in Christ.
And that's why there's realfreedom in Christianity using
our own agency, our own ability,and giving it to God.
It doesn't restrict us and chainus, but rather it frees us to
the great things that God has instore for us.