Eastertide Parish Eucharist Sixth Sunday of Easter
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. ”
Overview
On leaving his disciples Jesus tells them not to be troubled or afraid, John 14:23-29. Easy to say but not easy to do either for them nor for us today. Then as now, however, human beings find themselves able to survive and thrive in the most troubling and frightening of situations. Two things that support such resilience is a sense of purpose and the support of those around us. When we have a sense of purpose, we are no longer passive; we have a role to play. Jesus tells us our role: the peace that he is leaving with us. This is not the peace that the world gives, the peace of the Pax Romana that was imposed by force, but a peace built of justice, a peace in which everyone could be at home in the world. In our first reading, Acts 16:9-15, a foreign woman in a new home does just this for Paul and his companions when they come to a new city. Lydia, having experienced being away from home, opens her home to others. She is, in her own small way, building peace. A peace built by a thousand tiny actions which seek to open the world for others.
FIRST READING
Acts 16:9-15
During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.
We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshipper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.’ And she prevailed upon us.
GOSPEL READING
John 14:23-29
Jesus answered him, ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.
‘I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, “I am going away, and I am coming to you.” If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.
