“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you… Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”
Jesus gives us the peace that only He can give: a peace that can remain steadfast through every difficulty and confusion and apparent setback; a peace that can anchor our hearts in the midst of the storms of life, and even keep us in persevering calm against the “ruler of the world.” Because that enemy has no power over Christ, and Christ is with us.
It is this oneness with Christ that allowed Paul to remain steadfast and to keep preaching even after he was stoned and left for dead. Hardships could not make him recoil from his mission, and in fact they seemed to have spurred him on to work even harder and travel farther! He understood this principle in Christ – that love for the Father moved His Heart to fulfill His mission in spite of the suffering it demands, and His Heart remained at peace in the certainty of the Father’s love, even through the anguish He had to endure.
We might sometimes be tempted to misunderstand the nature of the sufferings of Christ as if He were “hovering above” the suffering due to His divine nature; but He suffered more than any of us ever will or could. We may think this about the saints as well, as if their holiness exempted them from feeling the fullness of their martyrdom. But their suffering is true suffering. If it is sweetened, it is by the love that makes them willing to do anything for the Beloved.
Like a mother who will forgo sleep and food and comfort for the sake of her suffering child, more aware of the child’s need than her own, Paul and every other holy one has their heart focused on the good of others and their love for God, no matter the cost. Their desire to do the will of God drives them beyond their comfort zone, beyond their own resources and limitations, beyond their own ideas and agenda, to great (and sometimes hidden) things for the Kingdom. This is how they magnify the Lord with their lives: “Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your kingdom.”
As fellow Kingdom-dwellers, we follow in Jesus’ footsteps toward the Father, but often in ways that we could not have anticipated, and perhaps would not have chosen. But our love for Christ and desire to obey the Father like Him, should drive us beyond our own expectations and calculations without being troubled or fearful. Like Jesus, we can pour ourselves out for love, in trust, without counting the cost, because His Heart keeps our hearts in peace.
Daily Reading
Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter
Reading 1 Acts 25:13b-21 King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesareaon a visit to Festus.Since they spent several days there,Festus referred Paul’s case to the king, saying,“There is a man…
Saint of the Day
Saint Paschal Baylon
Saint Paschal Baylon (1540–1592), Spanish friar, renowned for ecstatic visions and devotion to the Eucharist, patron saint of Eucharistic congresses.
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