May 24 2011
Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter
By Beth DeCristofaro
They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples gathered around him, he got up and entered the city. …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. (Acts 14:19-20, 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. 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. (John 14:27-28)
Piety
May all that is unforgiven in you be released. May your fears yield their deepest tranquilities. May all that is unlived in you blossom into a future graced with love.
(“To Come Home to Yourself” John O’Donohue)
Study
(Paul) got up and entered the city after being left for dead…not sure I could do that. He never heard Jesus’ living, human voice but he models Jesus’ comfort: “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” At times I have felt “stoned” by the death of someone close, a lay-off in the family, a sibling struggling to keep a business afloat, a relative brought low with mental health issues, or my own difficulties with a demanding job. And then there is the news which “stones” anyone with a heart that cares: homes and lives destroyed in storms and floods, noncombatants killed in conflicts, children hurt by pitiless adults. I could go on and on and Jesus knows this. He even knew that at one time, like his disciples did, we would have counted Paul among those to fear.
Fear not, Jesus says, because I am going to the Father who is greater than I and together we will keep you from harm. Get back up from your hurts for we go with you and together, with you, we can bring hope and light to those who are also in pain, in hurt, imprisoned, unable to feel the joy which is yours and theirs through our great love. God is holding the door open for me and you.
Wine is not wine until the grapes are pressed. Bread, broken and offered around the table, is love. Life is not a box of yummy chocolates for most of us. But Jesus is in the wine and the bread of our lives.
Action
A group of us gather to read, reflect and pray with Engaging Spirituality. Although I still feel (as a friend has described) that with our puny fingers in the dike we attempt to hold back more than a tsunami of injustice , I am coming to appreciate just how much influence one puny finger can have. Look at Paul! Look at Ghandi! Look at tiny but fierce Mother Theresa! Look at the volunteers of the hyperthermia shelter in Fairfax County!
In what place in your life is it difficult to “get back up”; perhaps because it hurts or you are exhausted? Trust that Jesus will help you even if you can’t sense him as you stumble out of a pit. He is there with his peace and his joy. And He is there to lift you to His shoulders, the Good Shepherd, if you but hope.
