First reading Acts 13:26-33
God has fulfilled his promise by raising Jesus from the dead
Paul stood up in the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia, held up a hand for silence and began to speak:
‘My brothers, sons of Abraham’s race, and all you who fear God, this message of salvation is meant for you. What the people of Jerusalem and their rulers did, though they did not realise it, was in fact to fulfil the prophecies read on every sabbath. Though they found nothing to justify his death, they condemned him and asked Pilate to have him executed. When they had carried out everything that scripture foretells about him they took him down from the tree and buried him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had accompanied him from Galilee to Jerusalem: and it is these same companions of his who are now his witnesses before our people.
‘We have come here to tell you the Good News. It was to our ancestors that God made the promise but it is to us, their children, that he has fulfilled it, by raising Jesus from the dead. As scripture says in the second psalm: You are my son: today I have become your father.’
Responsorial Psalm 2:6-11
You are my Son. It is I who have begotten you this day.
or
Alleluia!
‘It is I who have set up my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.’
I will announce the decree of the Lord:
The Lord said to me: ‘You are my Son.
It is I who have begotten you this day.
‘Ask and I shall bequeath you the nations,
put the ends of the earth in your possession.
With a rod of iron you will break them,
shatter them like a potter’s jar.’
Now, O kings, understand,
take warning, rulers of the earth;
serve the Lord with awe
and trembling, pay him your homage.
Gospel John 14:1-6
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Trust in God still, and trust in me.
There are many rooms in my Father’s house;
if there were not, I should have told you.
I am going now to prepare a place for you,
and after I have gone and prepared you a place,
I shall return to take you with me;
so that where I am
you may be too.
You know the way to the place where I am going.’
Thomas said, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus said:
‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
No one can come to the Father except through me.’
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The call to radical trust
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God still, and trust in me” (The gospel). In the gospel, Jesus had just told His disciples that someone among them would betray Him, another would deny Him, and the rest would abandon Him. Thus, they were troubled and afraid. Yet, Jesus told them not to be troubled, but to put their trust in God and in Him. By doing so, they would find peace and calmness.
Jesus does not promise us a life free from problems, but He assures us that we can have an untroubled heart even in the midst of difficulties. When we sometimes feel paralysed by fear due to life’s uncertainties, let us remember that Jesus is always with us, accompanying us, and taking care of us. Today, Jesus reassures us, “Do not be troubled and afraid. Trust in me. I am here.” Let us put our trust in Jesus, for He brings us the peace that liberates us from fear and empowers us to live with hope.
Reflective question:
Today, how can I choose to live in a way that trusts in Jesus and allows His peace to guide me?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year C” by Sr Maria Jose FMVD.
