Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 14, 23-29
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
Whoever does not love me does not keep my words;
yet the word you hear is not mine
but that of the Father who sent me.
“I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
You heard me tell you,
‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’
If you loved me,
you would rejoice that I am going to the Father;
for the Father is greater than I.
And now I have told you this before it happens,
so that when it happens you may believe.”
God has something for you: Peace
1. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. Fear is within us all our life. In childhood we’re afraid of people or things, we’re afraid of fantasies: the boogeyman, monsters. But then comes the fear of what life itself confronts us with. Fear of making decisions, fear of going to the doctor because we know there’s something wrong with us, fear of looking bad to others, fear of being let down. Fear of living. Then the fear of dying comes into the picture. Anyway, the list is very long. Today, I want you to be honest and ask yourself, what am I afraid of? What is my fear today? Please take a few minutes and think about it. I think you don’t have to play dumb; you must accept that there’s some sort of fear in you that you must see and face.
2. Peace. Today peace is the main theme of the Gospel. It shows us that peace can only be found in one’s innermost self. It’s by going inside your soul and silencing everything around you that you will find the moment to talk and listen to God, and that leads you to peace. Today, the Gospel reminds you that the key to life is not success, nor money, nor fame; the key to your life is to have peace in your heart. When you have peace, you can face and defeat even the worst monster that may dwell in your mind. The living God wants to give you that peace.
3. Courage. When there’s peace in your heart you can overcome everything, and you can set out to fight. At the beginning of Christianity, when Christians were persecuted, what they did to face the situation that implied death in many cases, was pray; they prayed until they were at peace and faced the gladiators or wild animals. Today, God tells your heart and mine to seek peace so that we can be brave and face the ’gladiators’ that want to destroy us. Those gladiators are our fears. Be brave; you’re not alone, though many may abandon you, even me, God will always be at your side. Even if you think you have no strength, you’ll find strength in the peace that God gives you and you’ll find it in prayer. Be brave even if you feel out of place; remember the Person who went through the same thing and has already resurrected. God makes all things new.
Remember that something good is on the way!
God bless you and guard you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
