MY OWN PEACE I GIVE YOU

PRAYER PAUSE

Tuesday 1 May 2018, Joseph the Worker

MY OWN PEACE I GIVE YOU

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading:  “Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you.  Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” (John 14:27-31)

Reflection. Our first reading, from Acts 14:19-28, speaks of the troubles and persecutions Paul and his companions endured in Lystra and Iconium.  They are rejected and stoned and have to keep moving on.  “We all have to experience many hardships,” they said.  This is not exactly peace! Yet we know from experince that many people can be extraordinarily peaceful in the midst of great hardships. When Pedro Arrupe emerged from a month’s solitary confinement in the middle of a Japanese winter in 1941, he came oout smiling and went round thanking the guards. They thought he was crazy. Maybe he was a bit – but with a craziness born of God and his gift of deep inner peace.  Jesus has not promised to take away our troubles but to help us work through them and come to deep peace.  

Prayer. Lord, may we know the peace that you offer, especially when we are burdened with many worries.. Amen