[stephenkhoo]

08 May, 2012, Fifth Tuesday of Easter
FINDING PEACE IN THE MIDST OF TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: ACTS 14:19-28; JOHN 14:27-31

How can we be truly happy in life? Happiness has little to do what with what we have and who we are in the eyes of the world, but it has everything to do with having the two essential needs of every person, namely, love and peace. Today, the gospel invites us to focus on the theme of peace. Peace is something every person looks for in life. This deep desire for peace is expressed in the way we wish a person who is dead, “May you rest in peace!” Ironically, in saying this, we are implying that even when a person is dead, he or she might not have peace! Peace therefore cannot be reduced to the absence of activity, trials and sufferings, for if that were the case, then all the dead should be at peace.

We must therefore not confuse worldly peace with the peace that comes from God. Even St Paul, who was very much with Christ and with God, was not spared from anxieties and sufferings, but he was at peace with himself and with God. In today’s gospel we read that Jesus was very much aware of the sufferings awaiting Him, yet He was very much at peace. When His disciples were alarmed and lacking peace, He exhorted them saying, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” If anyone was to worry, it should have been Jesus, because He was about to confront the prince of this world.

Why were the disciples troubled and lost? This was because they did not know the meaning and secret to the peace that comes only from God. Where can we find such courage and peace? Peace can only come from Jesus. After all, the first thing that the Risen Lord imparted to His disciples was peace. So what does this peace consist of?

Firstly, there can be true peace only if we do the Father’s will. In the gospel, Jesus said, “I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.” Seeking the Father’s will and doing it will give us interior peace even when external trials in life are inevitable. Yes, St Paul himself told the early Christians, “that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” As the psalmist and the prophets repeatedly remind us, “In His will is our peace.” Doing His will is simply living a life of integrity, doing what we must do according to our state of life. If we are faithful to our responsibilities, we will always be at peace, especially at deathbed, because we can return to the Father without any regrets knowing that we have done what we could possibly do within the limitations imposed on us. Indeed, Blessed Mother Teresa always reminds us that God wants us to be faithful, not successful.

Secondly, peace comes when we love the Father. Jesus in the gospel says, “I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.” Yes, Jesus could fulfill the Father’s will only because He was true to the purpose of His identity and life, which was to reveal to the world how much He loves His Father because His Father loved Him and the world. We too can only do the Father’s will when we love the Father just as Jesus did. Even when we have to make sacrifices and suffer, we will be able to bear them cheerfully, and most of all, be at peace, when we do it for love. Knowing that we have done our best for someone whom we love gives us peace. Otherwise, the failure to love as we ought will only bring us guilt and internal pain, even when we do not suffer physical pain and external discomfort. But more than just doing the Father’s will, our peace will come from knowing that through our love of the Father, as seen in our works, others will be inspired to love the Father and desire to give up their lives for the services of His Kingdom.

Thirdly, peace comes through trust in the Father’s power to deliver us. Jesus had absolute trust in His Father’s love and power. This explains why He could urge the disciples to rejoice because He was going to the Father, saying, “the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe.” Truly, even though Jesus knew that His enemy, “the ruler of the world” was coming to attack Him, He could say “he has no power over me” because He knew His identity before the Father and He knew the Father as the Origin and Source of all life.

How then can we find this peace that comes from Christ?

Firstly, we too will overcome all fear and anxiety in life if, like the early Christians, we commend everything “to the grace of God for the work which they had fulfilled.” It is in prayer and in self-surrender to His will and more importantly, to the power of His Grace, that we find joy and peace, for we know that everything is safe in His hands. Only in prayer can we discern His will and purify our motives. Only in prayer can we find confidence and strength in the Lord. So the way to peace must begin with prayer. Without seeking the peace of God in and through prayer, we will never be able to find peace in our hearts.

Secondly, we find strength to endure sufferings from the Christian community. The support of the community, especially our leaders, is important in helping us to secure our peace. Through them, we will be able to find encouragement and strength in our difficulties. Indeed, this was what Paul and Barnabas did. They gave much encouragement to the Christian communities, “strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter thekingdom ofGod. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they believed.” Are we encouraging each other in our faith journey? Have you followed St Paul in putting fresh heart into your friends and loved ones and exhorting them to remain firm in their struggles and never giving up hope in Christ?

Thirdly, to strengthen our faith and bolster our courage, it is necessary to give testimony to what God is doing in our lives. Again this was what they did, for we read that “when they arrived, they gathered the church together and declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.” Truly, testimonies play a very important part in the faith life of our people. The problem with us is that we seldom give testimony to how God is working and present in our lives. By failing to do so, we give the impression that our God is dead and inactive in the Church and in our lives. He becomes so unreal. Who would be inspired by a religion of rituals and practices? Are we sharing with each other the power of God at work in our lives, especially in our difficult moments? If we have not testified to the power of God at work in us, how can we find peace, especially when we are burdened with so many challenges each day?

Most of all, if we are seeking for peace, then what is of utmost importance is to know that lasting peace and joy can only come from the Holy Spirit. If Jesus told the disciples not to worry, it was because He knew that He would be sending them the Holy Spirit once He returned to the Father. This was what Jesus meant when He told them, “You heard me say to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’” He would send the Holy Spirit to them with all the gifts of fortitude, courage, hope and most of all peace. He would come again in a new way to be with His disciples to help them in all their trials and tribulations.