On the surface, what happens in the first reading
and the message of the Gospel reading seem to contradict each other. In the Acts of the Apostles, we hear about Paul
being stoned and dragged to the outskirts of the city, being left for
dead. Contrast what we hear Jesus preaching in the
Gospel: “Peace I leave you, my peace I give you.” Paul and the other disciples do not give up on
the zeal they have in preaching the Gospel message. They continue their journey to spread the
Gospel message throughout the ancient world. I have recently been reading some of the posts
that the Pope has been making on Twitter.
Last week, he posted this message: “We Christians are called to go out
of ourselves to bring the mercy and tenderness of God to all.” Sometimes we don’t feel a lot of peace in our
hearts. Sometimes we are struggling to
make it through the day. But in the
midst of all that we are going through, we are called to bring the peace of
Christ to others. Yesterday, I contrasted some of what I was going
through as a priest: presiding at the funeral of a beloved wife and mother and
grandmother; visiting a man at the Sanctuary hospice who is in his final days;
and then visiting a little baby who was just born in the hospital, a baby that
just happened to be named Lincoln. Our journey is filled with joys and sorrows. Our path can been smooth sailing one moment
and very rocky the next minute. But
through it all, Jesus is there journeying with us. May we continue to spread his message.
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