Banner

Sixth Week of Easter

Contrasting paths of peace and chaos, Jesus offers inner peace and freedom through God's word and love.

Gospel according to 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 home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine but is from the Father who sent me.’ ‘I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of everything that I have said to you.’ ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give it to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.’ ‘You heard me say to you, I am going away, and I am coming to you. If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.’
Duccio di Buoninsegna - Appearance on the Mountain in Galilee (1308-1311) - Museo dell'Opera Metropolitana del Duomo, Siena

Reflections

There are three contradictions that we hear in this reading: (1) those who listen to the word of the Father, as opposed to those who do not; (2) those who love and rejoice as opposed to those who are perturbed; and (3) going away and coming closer. A fourth contradiction is those who live in peace as opposed to those who live in fear.

One look at the world in chaos may make it seem clear that there are those who choose not to listen to the word of God. There are those who intentionally turn away from the word of God and build their security on worldly pursuits. What are the signs of this choice? It is manifested in self-centered and self-serving pursuits that ignore the rights and the needs of others. Taking advantage of the goodness that the world can offer for hoarding goods, making gains, and meeting interests without regard for the dignity of the person and reverence and care for creation. The consequences are pleasure or power seeking, lust, greed, envy, jealousy, gluttony, anger, or violence. --Frightful actions which perturb the heart and destroy peace.

The Word of God, says Jesus, offers harmony and peace (Psalm 85:5, John 14:27; Philippians, 4:7) It requires to turn away from selfish interests and to show mercy and kindness to each other. It prompts concern for the other and for creation. Black and white, implies Jesus, are not the same. What is black cannot be purified, unless it is brought to the light of justice and rectified. What is white will not be soiled, unless the basic principles of what is right and wrong are disregarded and arbitrarily altered. Even the most desirable goals do not sanctify the wrong means and there are means which desecrate even the most noble goals. (1) One cannot lead a harmonious life if one disregards the universal laws of the universe, if one neglects or denies the principle of respect for life and creation. One cannot lead a peaceful life, unless one comes to abandon the means of discord and war arrives at a place of recognizing that “…we are all sons and daughters of the same Father…we all need each other and are indebted to one another” (2)

Jesus offers peace not in the way the world is ready to give it. In other words, Jesus did not come to erase oppression and demoralizing practices until the End of times. In fact, Christians have been oppressed and put to death because of His name (3) But he came to break the chains of inner oppression and slavery to sin. (4) He has come to bring light so that we can see the difference clearly and walk in freedom to choose the path that we want to take. Through His dearth and rising from the dead, Jesus triumphed over death, and sin. He has opened a path to the Kingdom of heaven where there is eternal peace, justice, and love. (6)

Those who listen to the word of God know that they are in this world but are essentially not of this world (John 17:15-16). Through their spiritual poverty, they are attentive to the word of God and obey it; through the richness of their spirit, they can cultivate affection and love to pave the road to the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. In the depth of their spirit, they can anchor themselves in the word of God, and thus bring fruits of prudence, patience, wisdom, justice, temperance and perseverance. (7)

‘I am going away from you,’ said Jesus, but the more physically you will not see me anymore, the closer I can be with you in Spirit. (John 14:28). Through the Holy Spirit, we receive God’s peace that helps us to courageously act in a chaotic word to make it better: more loving, more kind, more compassionate, and more merciful than what it is right now.

“Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” Today, Jesus doesn’t ask Peter this question, but like he asked Peter, he asks each one of us: “[…], Do you love me?”

Conscious of our shortcomings, sins, omissions, and commissions, we are mindful that God is “…immensely rich in mercy, for the great love with which he loved us” (Ephesians 2:4), we can state with Isaac of Niniveh, a seventh century Father of the Eastern Church: “Your love, Lord, is greater than my trespasses. The waves of the sea are nothing with respect to the multitude of my sins, but placed on a scale and weighed against your love, they vanish like a speck of dust” (5)

Through victory over sin, Jesus offers the forgiveness, a new vision, a new start, and His peace. Not a fleeting and temporary peace of mind, but a lasting peace for those “disarmed in heart.” (2) Hearts disarmed by God, explains Pope Francis, are “…hearts not set on calculating what is mine and what is yours; hearts that turn selfishness into readiness to reach out to others; hearts that see themselves as indebted to God and thus prepared to forgive the debts that oppress others; hearts that replace anxiety about the future with the hope that every individual can be a resource for the building of a better world” (5)

Pope Francis continued to say that “…disarming hearts is a job for everyone, great and small, rich and poor alike. At times, something quite simple will do, such as a smile, a small gesture of friendship, a kind look, a ready ear, a good deed’” With such gestures, we progress towards the goal of peace. We will arrive more quickly if, in the course of journeying alongside our brothers and sisters, we discover that we have changed from the time we first set out. Peace does not only come with the end of wars but with the dawn of a new world, a world in which we realize that we are different, closer and more fraternal than we ever thought possible’” (5)

Sources

  1. Frankl, V. E. (2014). Man’s Search for Meaning. Beacon Pres: Boston.
  2. Pope Francis (2025). Message for Worl Day of Peace, 9 January 20025. Saint John of Good Brothers. West European Province. Retrieved from: www.sjogbrothers.eu. Accessed: May 22, 2025.
  3. Open Doors International (2025). World Watch List. Retrieved from: www.opendoors.org. Accessed: May 22, 2025.
  4. McLellan, J. (2023). Christians must not be oppressed by guilt but filled with joy, pope says. USCCB. Retrieved from: usccb.org. Accessed: May 22, 2025.
  5. Pope Francis (2025). Message of Hid Holiness Pope Francis for the LVIII World Day of Peace. January 1, 2025. Retrieved from: www.vatican.va. Accessed: May 22, 2025.
  6. Catechism of the Catholic Church (2025). Article 1019. Retrieved from: www.catholic culture.org. Accessed: May 22, 2025.
  7. Catholic Encyclopedia (2025). Cardinal Virtues. Retrieved from: www.newadvent.org. Accessed: May 22, 2025.