Do not let your hearts be troubled...

Sixth Sunday of Easter









In today's first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we see what happens when there is confusion about the use of ritual in the early Church. We see that the Jewish Christians are still tied to the Mosaic practice of circumcision and wish to impose these and other Jewish traditions on the Gentiles who are converting to the Faith. The Jewish Christians believed that these rituals and traditions were important to overcome sin.

However, when the Apostles and the elders met with Paul and Barnabas in Jerusalem about these very questions, the Holy Spirit intervened and a new understanding developed about the use of ritual. Ritual was not to overcome sin, but to raise our minds and hearts to God.

As we proceed to the second reading from Revelation, John relates how he is transported to a high mountain overlooking the holy city of Jerusalem. In his vision, John describes the scene below. There is no temple in the holy city! "...for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb." This is further recognition that even appropriate religious rituals would play no role in the heavenly kingdom.

In today's Gospel reading, John tells us what God desires. He wishes to come and dwell in us. Jesus explains how this can occur when he reveals, "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him."

It is interesting to note that God has placed a corresponding desire in the hearts of the people He created. Eve could be tempted by Satan because she wanted to be like God. To be like God is to be in union with Him. Eve's sin came about because she pursued this unity in the wrong way.

The right way to unity with God and to receive His indwelling in us is to act under the obedience of God. In other words, God tells us, "if you love me, do as I say." God's way is for us to receive the word that Jesus teaches; because that word can change us.

When we make that word a part of our lives, we open ourselves to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Those gifts help us to know ourselves and to grow into the unity with God that we are seeking.

Sometimes events in our lives threaten to defeat us and we become discouraged. In this Gospel reading today, Jesus seeks to comfort us by promising us the peace that only He can give. His peace is an eternal peace that remains within us even when the world in which we live is in chaos.

As we begin to experience that peace, we come to realize what Jesus meant when He told His disciples: "Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid..." He would be going to His Father; but He would return...