Sunday, May 01, 2016 6th Sunday of Easter
1st Reading: Acts 15:1-2, 22-29 2nd Reading:
Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23 Gospel: John 14:23-29
Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my Father will love him; and we will come to him and make a room in his home. But if anyone does not love me, he will not keep my words, and these words that you hear are not mine but the Father’s who sent me.
“I told you all this while I was still with you. From now on the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of all that I have told you.
“Peace be with you; I give you my peace. Not as the world gives peace do I give it to you. Do not be troubled; do not be afraid. You heard me say: ’I am going away, but I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
I have told you this now before it takes place, so that when it does happen you may believe.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
The chaos we Filipinos are experiencing while getting closer to Election Day makes us wonder what happened to the peace that Jesus bequeathed to the world. Today’s Gospel clarifies that the peace that Christ bequeathed is not the peace that humans expect. It is an onerous one requiring inner change that entails self -sacrifice.
The self-sacrifice necessarily involves all parties. One camp working for peace cannot demand self-sacrifice from the other camp if it is not willing to shed a drop of blood for it. The following story will illustrate. A man called up a doctor in the middle of the night requesting him to come to his house because his wife needed immediate medical attention. When the doctor declined the request, the man reminded the doctor of his oath. Finally the doctor obliged but with one request: that the man come and fetch him. “What? Do you expect me to get out of the house on a cold winter night?” the man protested. The moral is: If you want something for yourself that requires sacrifice, you must do your fair share.
One camp working alone for peace is like rowing a boat from one side. It moves without defined direction. Everyone must do his fair share of the sacrifice. Next week is Election Day, a day we do our fair share. The least we can do is close an eye to what a political candidate has done to us at the personal level. In other words, let us not give greed free reign.
You ask what happened to the peace Christ gave to the world? It is stifled by the chaos generated by our collective greed. We can free it by our collective deed of self-sacrifice that triggers inner change. — Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: [email protected].
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