Daily Gospel

“Lord, make me an instrument of peace.” We love to sing this song. Its lyrics, though attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, were actually written at the beginning of the 20th century by the American seminarian Francis Spellman, who later became archbishop and Cardinal of New York.

“Peace is an irrepressible yearning present in the heart of each person, regardless of his or her particular cultural identity” (Pope Benedict XVI). There are many kinds of peace. One is just absence of war or trouble. Another is the kind politicians talk about, escape from the real problems and from the effort to solve them. At times we might get the impression that there are certain signs of hope in the work of building peace; the number of armed conflicts has decreased a bit. But in his 2006 New Year Message, Pope Benedict warned us: “All this must not, however, lead to naive optimism. It must not be forgotten that, tragically, violent fratricidal conflicts and devastating wars still continue to sow tears and death in vast parts of the world. Situations exist where conflict, hidden like flame beneath ashes, can flare up anew and cause immense destruction.”

Jesus tells us that peace is a heavenly gift he gave to his disciples a divine grace, a peace quite different from what the world offers. The peace Christ gives is based on truth and love. There can be no peace where there is no truth. Lying is linked to the tragedy of sin and its horrible consequences, which have devastating effects on the lives of individuals and nations. How often is the peace in our families destroyed by lies!

Secondly, peace is built on the foundation of love. This is obvious. Where people love each other, there problems still occur, but those problems can be solved by listening to each other and by mutual understanding. Where people love each other, genuine dialogue is possible. Where people love each other, there God’s grace is present, uniting and moving forward the people involved. For peace in the world we cannot do much but we can and must pray. “I ask for an increase of prayers,” Pope Benedict wrote, “since peace is above all a gift of God, a gift to be implored incessantly.”

For peace in our communities, families and hearts we can do a lot. We can and should, as we said, cultivate truth and love wherever God places us. Fr. Rudy H.

REFLECTION QUESTION: Am I a peacemaker in the place and community God has placed me?

Lord, we call You Prince of Peace. Absence of peace means absence of your divine presence. Help me to work for peace and so make You more present in the place where You have placed me.

St. Wiro, bishop, pray for us.

The pilot of a plane was flawlessly scraping the blue sky with his fluid maneuvers and near perfect turns, when suddenly, he heard a weird noise coming from where the engine and its vital wires were. The gauges one by one started malfunctioning and he immediately engaged the autopilot to take a peek at what could be going wrong. His head doubled its size when he saw a rat gnawing on the wires and it was actually nearing the hydraulic tubes. He knew it would be the end of his flying days, and of his life, if the rodent got to the hydraulic tube.

He had an idea.

He pulled the plane up to maximum altitude. The big rodent then dropped dead. Because rodents can’t survive extremely high altitudes.

The peace of God to what used to be troubled hearts is something that the world can never know. We can, if we allow Him to take us “up” there. Jon E.

REFLECTION:
Are you troubled? Scared? Overwhelmed by life? Buckle up. Soar in the wings of prayer. God can blow out the rodents of worry, fear and guilt in your heart.

Lord, all the world offers are temporary and fleeting rat pleasures that its decaying nature recognizes. Bring me up to the “peace that surpasses all understanding.” Amen!

Today we read and listen to a beautiful prayer of Jesus. Jesus did not suggest that His followers leave the “evil world” and live a contemplative life in monasteries. That is only for a few who have a special calling (and even they are not free from the attacks of evil). The rest must live IN the world with the great task to transform the world, to “inject” the values of Christ into its cultures and societies. When Jesus prayed that we have to live in the world but not be of the world, He means that we are inspired by a completely different set of values than those proposed by the world. When the world lives out selfishness, we try to follow the example of Christ and live a life of service to others. When the world proposes violence and revenge, hatred and division, we are called to live out forgiveness and peace, love and unity. When the world stresses happiness found in wealth and power, we counteract this attitude with a simple lifestyle, with respect for life and human dignity, and sharing what God has given us. This is extremely difficult as all of us have experienced already. And so Jesus prays,“Consecrate them!” To consecrate means to separate his followers from anything evil. Of course, we have to cooperate with grace. We have to be prudent in what we read and watch, and with whom we live. We cannot be consecrated, as Jesus wants it, if we expose ourselves to anti-Christian, or anti-Catholic TV shows and pamphlets, or if we expose ourselves to immoral literature, movies and Internet websites. We cannot be consecrated, separated from anything evil, if we associate ourselves with people for whom dishonesty and corruption is their daily bread. Even the Word of God and the prayer of Christ cannot protect us if we are careless and throw ourselves in the hands of the Evil One. Evil rules for a while but not forever. Eventually it will be defeated and it is good to be on the side of the victor: Jesus Christ who has overcome Satan and death. Fr. Rudy H.

REFLECTION QUESTION: Am I afraid to be different from others around me? Do I have the courage to stand up for Christian values? Do I focus on the difficulty of this task or do I look beyond the present to a victory with Christ?

Lord, I am weak and a coward. I know what You expect me to do in my corrupt environment. Just help me to begin more courageously injecting Your values into the people around me.

St. Didier, bishop, pray for us.

I worked hard to provide for my family and send my younger sister Cherry to college. I wanted her to finish her studies like any normal students do. However, I expected Cherry to study at my pace and not her own. I overlooked one important fact – Cherry has a short-term memory deficiency, is slightly deaf and has speech problems. She was diagnosed to have dyslexia. I was angry with her for being so dependent. I berated and belittled her, which made her more insecure.
As I grew in my relationship with Jesus, I became more compassionate with Cherry. It is not through my efforts. I believe it is His grace that made me love and accept my sister’s weakness. When Cherry saw the changes in me, she became open with her feelings and freely expressed her anger or joy. I am witnessing now how my sister is gaining confidence.
St. Paul’s words struck me hard. I must not only work to provide material things for my family. I must work doubly hard to bring them to Jesus. In Him, we can bare our weaknesses and still be accepted. RosAnn J.

REFLECTION:
Do you need to encourage someone today?

Forgive me for trodding down on the weak instead of helping them become strong.