Do Not Let Your Hearts Be Troubled

Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.

Today’s first reading tells of the first major controversy faced by the disciples of Jesus in apostolic times: should baptized Christians observe the Law of Moses or not? Should Christians follow the prescribed laws of the Old Testament, primarily circumcision? In order to resolve the troubles, the apostles gathered in Jerusalem to pray, and guided by the Holy Spirit, reached a decision: Christians were only to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meats of strangled animals and from unlawful marriage.

This shows the Church turning to the Holy Spirit which was promised by Jesus, during a time of turmoil and disagreement. Here the Spirit guides and leads the Church to Truth and Peace.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. The Holy Spirit guards over his church, He teaches her, protects her and guides her; and will do so until the end of time. Jesus promised to be with the one Church he founded and has done so throughout the centuries.

In the Gospel Jesus grants his peace to the apostles, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you,” words we repeat at every single Mass before we are invited to share a sign of peace with each other. We also pray at Mass for God to, “graciously grant peace in our days, that we may be free from sin and safe from all distress” and also to “look upon the faith of your Church and graciously grant her peace and unity.”

We ask for peace today as the early apostles did, Jesus grants us peace, but disagreement and turmoil are still present. What kind of Peace does Jesus grant us if it does not do away with conflict, tension and suffering?

Jesus says, “not as the world gives peace do I give it to you.”

What does this mean?

The Peace of Christ is a peace that runs deep within our being. The Peace of Christ is grounded on our unfaltering trust in God’s mercy and love.

Christ is the Prince of Peace who calms the storm while his apostles despair on the boat, thinking they are going to sink.

Christ is the Prince of Peace who calms the storms that rage deep within our hearts that oftentimes make us despair, because we are deceived into thinking we too are going to sink.

The Peace Christ gives us allows us to face the challenges of life unafraid, trusting in the wisdom and strength of the Holy Spirit. The Peace of Christ does not mean the absence of difficulty or suffering, Jesus said after all, “pick up your cross and follow me.” The Peace of Christ makes our hearts still and receptive so we may joyfully and peacefully engage the storms of life with Christ.

The Peace of Christ enters our hearts when we live out the words of Jesus, “seek first the kingdom of God and everything else will be given to you besides.”

How difficult it is for us to trust these words of Jesus even though in them are kept the path to finding Peace! Are we able not to grow anxious over all the challenges of our lives and seek God first, trusting He will give us all we need? As long as we remain faithful and seek God first, he will give us all we need when facing that difficult diagnosis, he will give us all we need when we face financial distress, he will give us all we need when we suffer from the wounds we have received.

The Peace of Christ in our hearts increases in the measure our trust in him increases.

The world may be falling apart, but the Peace of Christ deep within the heart can remain unshaken. There are many things that trouble our hearts and make us afraid, but we must be confident that with Christ we conquer all things.

Consider the Virgin Mary. When the angel Gabriel announced to her she would conceive a child and that this child was the awaited descendent of David, Mary surely had plenty of anxiety and distress. Had she allowed these to take over, she may have said no. She placed her trust in God and said “yes.” Though a sword still pierced her heart, though she suffered greatly after saying “yes” to God by seeing her son ridiculed and crucified, all these things she endured in peace, knowing that Jesus Christ was at her side.

May we have the grace to maintain within us the Peace Christ gives us today, that we may find clarity like the apostles in time of disagreement, that we may remain faithful like Mary during times of distress.

Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter Year C

Picture: The Yorshire Dales, 2007