By Manila Bulletin Newsroom
REFLECTIONS TODAY
Peace is often understood as freedom from war or public disturbance. But the Hebrew shalom (peace) is more encompassing. It is the right relationship with God and with people. Over all, it refers to one’s well-being in totality. In Israel, shalom is ordinarily used in greetings. When people ask, “How are you?” they say, Ha-shalom? (“Is there peace?”). When one answers, “I am okay,” he says, Shalom! But above all, peace is a gift of God to those who obey his will.
In bidding goodbye to his disciples, Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you… Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid” (v 27). Jesus says this at the eve of his departure, which will involve his arrest, his trial, and his being condemned to death. That very night, his disciples will abandon him when he is arrested in the Garden of Olives. Peace is not for them at this moment; rather, it anticipates the peace of his resurrection, when Jesus will appear to them and say, “Peace be with you!” And he gives them the Holy Spirit with the power to forgive sins (Jn 20:22-23). The risen Lord does not just give peace; he himself is the Shalom. By his cross and resurrection, he has set all men and women free. He has broken the “dividing wall” of enmity that separates people from God and from one another (Eph 2:14).
“Not as the world gives do I give it to you” (v 27). The Roman Empire built an altar to Pax Augusta to mark the victory of Octavius Augustus Caesar that ended the civil war in Rome. The peace that the world gives is imposed by arms, by threats, and by severe punishment. The peace of Jesus, the fruit of his suffering, is the one that sets us free, and gives us confidence and security in the midst of life’s troubles.
First Reading • Acts 14:19-28
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. But when the disciples gathered around him, he got up and entered the city. On the following day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.
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. 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.” 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. Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia. After proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia. From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now accomplished. 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. Then they spent no little time with the disciples.
Gospel • Jn 14:27-31a
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. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe. I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me, but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me.”
Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2026,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: publishing@stpauls.ph; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
