Tuesday of the 5th week of Easter year A
Theme: The cost of discipleship
The challenges of Paul and his companions continue to increase as they preach the good news of Christ to the people. In the 1st reading of today from the Acts of the Apostles, we are told that Paul was stoned and dragged outside the city, thinking he was already dead. The Jews continued to follow Paul wherever he went, just to discredit him and incite the people against him. One of the interesting things about Paul in the difficulties and challenges he encountered in his missionary journey’s, is the fact that he remained steadfast and never allowed fear to slow him down.
My sisters and brothers in Christ, we have a lot to learn from the life of St. Paul. Just like him, we encounter challenges and persecutions because of our call to discipleship, at such moments what do you do? This is very important in our world today, some of us do not want to get involved in things that do not affect us directly, even when we have all the details, and an innocent person or group is suffering because of our silence. Let us emulate St. Paul when we are faced with such a situation in our personal life. We must always pray for the courage and strength of St. Paul; it will help to make our world a better place. Ordinarily, if we were St. Paul some of us would have given up a long time ago, because strictly speaking his not preaching to the people may not affect him directly. But he chose to be courageous and trust in God, not minding the challenges he was facing with the Jews. We are all encouraged as followers of Christ to draw strength from the missionary zeal of St. Paul that kept him going, without minding all the challenges and difficulties he encountered.
In the gospel reading of today, Jesus assures us his followers of the peace that comes from above and money cannot buy it. The assurance coming from Jesus himself should continue to strengthen our faith when we are faced with the difficulties and challenges of life. The Lord is saying to us today, do not be afraid. What is that situation in your life that is very scary to you, present it to the Lord today with faith and allow him to show you that he is God. Like we usually say, what God cannot do does not exist; just trust him, he will never fail or disappoint you. The storms and challenges will always be there, but you serve a God that has power over all these things that we fear as humans. May the Lord continue to strengthen our faith in him, in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. Amen. Peace be with you.