This week has been incredibly challenging. One of my best friends—someone who is exceptionally health conscious and athletic—was recently diagnosed with leukemia. Our home Feast is facing difficulties due to a city government order temporarily closing our venue over permit issues. On top of that, I’ve been experiencing frequent pain in my lower right abdomen.

Tribulations are exhausting. Oh, what I would give for a safe, comfortable life without problems! But today’s reading reminds us that trials are part of our journey to God’s Kingdom. If tribulations are the path that leads us there, then perhaps they are not just obstacles but opportunities for growth in faith.

Knowing this doesn’t make challenges disappear, but it does give them purpose. The promise of entering God’s Kingdom brings hope and peace, making every struggle more bearable. Instead of resisting trials, I choose to embrace them with faith, trusting that God’s plan is greater than my understanding. 

Erika Mendoza Ventura (erika.m@svrtv.com)

reflect

Look back at your past trials. How have they made you grow in your faith? 

Lord, I surrender in full faith. I will trust that You are in control.

St. Hilary of Arles, pray for us.

Would anyone willingly face being stoned and left for dead on the outskirts of a city? Naturally, the instinct would be to avoid antagonizing people to prevent such a fate. Yet Paul and Barnabas went right back to work, proclaiming the Gospel. It is hardly surprising, then, that they were eventually martyred for their efforts.

¹⁹ In those days, some Jews from Antioch and Iconium arrived and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. ²⁰ But when the disciples gathered around him, he got up and entered the city. On the following day he left with Barnabas for Derbe. ²¹ After they had proclaimed the good news to that city and made a considerable number of disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch. ²² They strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” ²³ They appointed presbyters for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord in whom they had put their faith. ²⁴ Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia. ²⁵ After proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia. ²⁶ From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now accomplished. ²⁷ And when they arrived, they called the Church together and reported what God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. ²⁸ Then they spent no little time with the disciples.  

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 145:10-11, 12-13, 21

R: Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

¹⁰ Let all your works give you thanks, O Lord, and let your faithful ones bless you. ¹¹ Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might. (R) ¹² Making known to men your might and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. ¹³ Your kingdom is a kingdom for all ages, and your dominion endures through all generations. (R) ²¹ May my mouth speak the praise of the Lord, and may all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever. (R) 

Gospel | John 14:27-31

Jesus’ death and resurrection reveal both His love and the Father’s love for us. Perhaps it was even more difficult for the Father to send His Son to die than for Jesus to obey His command. Can you imagine any father willingly sending his son to die for a cause? I do not think there would be any—especially if that father truly loves his son. This profound sacrifice reveals the immeasurable depth of both the Father’s and the Son’s love for us.

Gospel Acclamation

Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead, and so enter into his glory.

²⁷ Jesus said to his disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. ²⁸ You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. ²⁹ And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe. ³⁰ I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me, ³¹ but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me.”

Read the Bible in one year! Read DEUTERONOMY 19 - 22 today.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus defines Christian peace. “Shalom,” the original word used, is more than the absence of noise, adversity, and other situations that the world associates with peace. It is having a good relationship with God. It is a condition of salvation, if not salvation itself. No wonder only Jesus can give it, and the world, in all its riches, can only dream of it. 

The Christmas message, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests” (Luke 2:14), essentially announces that the Messiah has come to save the world. The world was in great sin when Jesus was born. His coming was God’s way of reconciling with men. That reconciliation is Christian peace.

Peace was Jesus’ greeting when He appeared after His resurrection. He meant it as a message of forgiveness to everyone who had sinned and doubted Him. It was also an invitation to salvation for everyone. Christian peace is constitutive of faith. Faith moves us to a reconciliation with God and neighbor.

Finally, Christian peace brings us to rest with God. When we accept His invitation to come to Him and let Him share our toils and burdens, we let Him take control of our lives.

Contentment and fullness in life are signs of the presence of Christian peace. We feel wanting and empty without it. We are restless without the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Thanks be to God, it is always offered in the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We will benefit from it if we accept it and live it. God wants us to be with Him. He loves us so much that He gave His only Son to die for us and merit peace with Him.

Fr. Benny Tuazon 

reflection questions

What is your understanding of Christian peace? Have you experienced it? How did you feel? 

Lord Jesus, Prince of Peace, I accept Your offer of reconciliation. I admit my sinfulness, and I resolve to restore my relationship with You. In the process, I commit to be an agent of Your peace to others. Be with me always. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _____________________________________________