Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Today's Mass Readings

In today's Gospel reading from John, Jesus addresses His disciples with the words, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (14:27). Jesus’ next comment, however, seems a little confusing at first glance: “Not as the world gives do I give it to you” (14:27). What does Jesus mean by this? For starters, Jesus’ peace might not always feel like what we think of as peace at all. Remember, Jesus was crucified,and He had to die on the cross before He could experience the Easter resurrection. In today’s first reading from Acts, we catch a glimpse of what following Jesus sometimes entails: “They stoned Paul and dragged himout of the city” (Acts 14:19). In this instance St. Paul survived stoning, but he eventually dies by beheading in Rome.

The peace Jesus bestows on His followers does not exclude His followers from suffering. The peace Jesus gives is not the peace of the world, the absence of suffering. The good news is that suffering is not the end of the story. Jesus has transformed suffering, so that when we suffer, it does not have to hinder our relationship with God; rather suffering can transform and strengthen our relationship with God. Elsewhere, St. Paul writes: “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things…will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

In fact, this is the heart of the message Jesus has for us in today’s Gospel reading: “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid” (John14:27). Do not be afraid. Easter resurrection has the last word, not the sufferings we endure in this life. Let us, therefore, live our days in the peace of Christ, trying to relieve the sufferings we can in this life, while striving forward in the hope of life beyond the grave. This hope should help us live lives of love more boldly.

Let us strive to live lives of peace and hope, so that even when wesuffer, we can experience the closeness of God.

- Jeff Morrow