20220513 DEALING WITH A TROUBLED HEART
13 May, 2022, Friday, 4th Week of Easter
First reading | Acts 13:26-33 © |
God has fulfilled his promise by raising Jesus from the dead
Paul stood up in the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia, held up a hand for silence and began to speak:
‘My brothers, sons of Abraham’s race, and all you who fear God, this message of salvation is meant for you. What the people of Jerusalem and their rulers did, though they did not realise it, was in fact to fulfil the prophecies read on every sabbath. Though they found nothing to justify his death, they condemned him and asked Pilate to have him executed. When they had carried out everything that scripture foretells about him they took him down from the tree and buried him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had accompanied him from Galilee to Jerusalem: and it is these same companions of his who are now his witnesses before our people.
‘We have come here to tell you the Good News. It was to our ancestors that God made the promise but it is to us, their children, that he has fulfilled it, by raising Jesus from the dead. As scripture says in the second psalm: You are my son: today I have become your father.’
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 2:6-11 © |
You are my Son. It is I who have begotten you this day.
or
Alleluia!
‘It is I who have set up my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.’
I will announce the decree of the Lord:
The Lord said to me: ‘You are my Son.
It is I who have begotten you this day.
You are my Son. It is I who have begotten you this day.
or
Alleluia!
‘Ask and I shall bequeath you the nations,
put the ends of the earth in your possession.
With a rod of iron you will break them,
shatter them like a potter’s jar.’
You are my Son. It is I who have begotten you this day.
or
Alleluia!
Now, O kings, understand,
take warning, rulers of the earth;
serve the Lord with awe
and trembling, pay him your homage.
You are my Son. It is I who have begotten you this day.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | Col3:1 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ,
you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is,
sitting at God’s right hand.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn14:6 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord;
No one can come to the Father except through me.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 14:1-6 © |
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Trust in God still, and trust in me.
There are many rooms in my Father’s house;
if there were not, I should have told you.
I am going now to prepare a place for you,
and after I have gone and prepared you a place,
I shall return to take you with me;
so that where I am
you may be too.
You know the way to the place where I am going.’
Thomas said, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus said:
‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
No one can come to the Father except through me.’
DEALING WITH A TROUBLED HEART
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 13:26-33; PS 2:6-11; JOHN 14:1-6]
We can appreciate why the apostles were troubled. Jesus had just washed the feet of His disciples. He had predicted that they would betray Him in spite of the fact that they strongly refuted that they would. As far as they were concerned, they were loyal to Jesus even unto death. But even Peter, as the Lord said, would also deny Him three times before the cock crowed. If the leader of the Twelve could even deny the master, what hope was there left for the rest of them? Most of all, the Lord told them that He was going away but they would not be able to go with Him yet. Where was the Lord going? They still could not understand the cryptic message of our Lord. But they were afraid to be orphaned. They had left everything to give their lives to Jesus so that they could reign in His kingdom. But with Him going to a place where they could not follow Him, all their plans would be derailed. What would they do then?
Perhaps, they also saw that Jesus Himself was troubled. Three times in St John’s gospel, He was portrayed as being troubled. At the house of Lazarus, when Jesus saw Mary weeping and “the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.” (Jn 11:33, 38) Then after His triumphant entry into Jerusalem, Jesus foresaw His death and “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say – ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.'” (Jn 12:27) Finally, knowing that Judas would betray Him, at the farewell meal, “Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, ‘Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.'” (Jn 13:21)
So if there is anyone who could lead us to overcome our doubts and fears, it would be Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Man. The letter of Hebrews tells us, “Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” (Heb 5:9) The author also said, “Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb 4:14-16)
This was what Jesus did in today’s gospel. Jesus Himself found strength in His Father. When He was troubled, the Father would respond to Him. Before raising Lazarus from the dead, He prayed, “”Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” (Jn 11:41f) In His agony, “a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.'” (Jn 12:28) So when Judas went out to betray Jesus, He said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.” (Jn 13:31f)
Using a similar pattern, Jesus said to the disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God still, and trust in me.” The basis of confidence must not be on ourselves. If we focus on our own strength, then we should be worried because we might not be able to meet the challenges before us. If we think that using our intellect and will alone, we can overcome the world and especially the Evil One, we will fail just as Judas was overwhelmed by Satan who entered in him because he relied on his own strategy to conquer the Romans. (Jn 13:27) We cannot depend on our own strength. Even the Lord could not depend on Himself. He was put to death on the cross. But when He surrendered His Spirit to the Father, His Father took over by sending the Spirit to raise Him from the dead. It would be the Spirit that would complete the mission that He started. On the cross, Jesus, “crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.'” (Lk 23:46)
The basis of confidence cannot be on one’s feelings as well. Many of us tend to act based on our feelings. Today, there are many courses on building self-confidence. Many of us depend on whether people like what we do. We are very reactive to social media, which determines our fate and popularity, and often such ratings are curated and manipulated. Today it is mass appeal and how we feel. This “feel good” is what matters at the end. It does not need to be rooted in the truth. So long as we depend on feelings, our love and commitment, whether to our relationships or our work, would be unstable and erratic. One moment, we are very high and the next moment, we feel discouraged and want to give up. Jesus never depends on public opinion. Even His opponents recognized Jesus’ confidence in Himself. They said to Jesus, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality.” (Mt 22:16) Jesus’ confidence was rooted not on subjectivity, which is what the world values today – personal preferences in the name of relativism.
But Jesus rested His life on objective truth, in the Word of God and in His fidelity to His Father. He said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Mt 22:21) When questioned by the Pharisees on the resurrection, He reprimanded them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God.”‘ (Mt 22:29) He said to His opponents on the indissolubility of marriage, “Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” (Mt 19:4-6)
Most of all, our confidence must be with the Father. But where is the Father? Jesus was identified with the Father. Hence, He told the disciples, “Trust in God still, and trust in me.” Jesus was one with the Father and He spoke His words. He shared in the life of God and the Father had entrusted judgment to our Lord. For this reason, when Thomas asked, “Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” Jesus is the Way to the fullness of truth because He is the Word of God. He is synonymous with Life because He is the life giver. This life is given to us through our union with Jesus. It is Jesus who brings us to the bosom of His heavenly Father. For this reason, Jesus said, “No one can come to the Father except through me.” This does not mean that those who do not know Jesus are condemned. But what is true is that in the final analysis, the way to come to know the Father is through Jesus because He shows us the face of His Father. To see Jesus is to see the Father.
Hence, we can appreciate why Jesus had to go away for our sake. He said to His disciples, “There are many rooms in my Father’s house; if there were not, I should have told you. I am going now to prepare a place for you, and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you with me; so that where I am you may be too. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Our confidence therefore lies in the fact that we will have a place in the Father’s house. The Father’s house is not so much a place somewhere in the sky. When Jesus said “there are many rooms in my Father’s house”, He was referring to the indwelling of God. We all have a place in the Father’s house when God abides in us through Jesus in the Holy Spirit. Jesus reiterated later, “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” (Jn 14:18-21) In other words, we dwell with the Father when we share in the life and the sonship of our Lord. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit dwell in us when we are living in union with God. This is possible because Jesus shows us the face of His Father through His life, His words and most of all, by sending us the Holy Spirit after His resurrection and Ascension. He will come again to bring us into relationship with His Father through the forgiveness of sins by His paschal mystery and our union with Him through the Holy Spirit.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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