PRI Reflections on Scripture | Tuesday of the 5th Week of Easter

Gospel 
John 14:27-31a

Jesus said to his disciples:
"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.
I will no longer speak much with you,
for the ruler of the world is coming.
He has no power over me,
but the world must know that I love the Father
and that I do just as the Father has commanded me."

Reflection

If there's anything that is essential about the teaching of Jesus to his disciples is he's asking them to trust, to have some kind of deep conviction that no matter what's going on around you or what you're feeling, there's a promise that's been made to you that this God is there for you. And what that means is that there is never a chance that you could say that whatever is going on in your life will lead to some destruction.

There are difficulties. There are painful things, but they're always there for a purpose, that is somehow part of what it means to be past our fears. Fear is based in an unknown that is terrifying because we don't know what will happen and what we need to know, no matter what happens, that it will never, ever destroy us.

Closing Prayer

Father, there is much to rob us of a peaceful well being. As we look at the world today. But what we have to remember is that God has made a promise that suffering. Dealing with that which we can't control or we can't understand fully. That's part of the work of becoming a man, woman who trusts implicitly in God. That's the challenge. When everything's falling apart. We can still be convinced that what looks like destruction is actually construction deepening, awakening our deep trust in God's plan that always brings goodness. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.