Tuesday of the 5th week of Easter
Theme: Faith in God
In our 1st reading today, we continue to see Paul and Barnabas doing exploits for the Lord. In their discipleship, we see the depth of their faith in God. Today Paul is stoned by the people he went to minister; yet he did not allow the situation to slow him down or affect his faith in God. Rather the experience strengthened their faith and they continued to move from place to place propagating the good news. Their situation today amongst the people has not changed, even in our own time. Their experiences should be a source of great strength for you and I as disciples of Christ. There are bound to be challenges on our journey of faith, from time to time; but we must never allow them to slow us down in our call to discipleship, but rather it should strengthen our faith in God; just like in the case of Paul and Barnabas.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, our quest to make heaven at the end of our earthly pilgrimage is almost impossible with these challenges and difficulties of life. Our source of strength at such moments in our life should always be the fact that we are walking with the Lord, and there will be light at the end of the tunnel. We can see this fact in the lives of men and women of faith who remained steadfast in their journey of faith; not minding the trials and tribulations they encountered. Let us resolve today, to emulate the lives of our ancestors in faith; they carried their cross onto victory and we can also do the same and be rewarded with the crown of unfading glory at the end of our earthly pilgrimage. Simply put, do not allow persecutions to stop you from doing what is right and acceptable to God.
In the gospel reading, Jesus bestows on us his peace, which we all need and the world cannot give to us. He said, let not your hearts be troubled. What is that thing in your life that has made you restless, the Lord is saying that you should have faith in him and do your best; whatever is left is in the hands of God. Been troubled does not provide the solution that we seek at such a time; only God has the final say. Trust in God and hand your worries onto him while you do what is humanly possible. God will never disappoint all those who trust in him. May Almighty God bless you, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Peace be with you.