Peace Be With You

“ In all He did from the Incarnation to the Cross, the end Jesus Christ had in mind was the gift of the Eucharist, his personal and corporal union with each Christian through Communion. He saw in It the means of communicating to us all the treasures of His Passion, all the virtues of His Sacred Humanity, and all the merits of His Life.”

- St. Peter Julian Eymard

First Reading:  Acts 2: 42 - 47

          And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And fear came upon every soul; and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Psalm: Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24

Second Reading: 1 Peter 1:3-9

          Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. As the outcome of your faith you obtain the salvation of your souls.

Gospel: John 20:1-9

          On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

         

          Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe." Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."

          Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.

Reflection
By Fely Santiago

“The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

 

When we attend the Mass we normally just bow our heads and greet all the people around us with “Peace be with you” without really meaning it. But if we only understand how powerful these words are, we will do it better next time.

When we read the Bible we often read God says, “Do not be afraid”, “Peace be with you”, “Do not fear”, but we have not really understood these words. Why? Because we still give in to our worries, to our fears, to our anxieties, our disappointments, our resentments. And I must admit that even at my current level of spiritual maturity, I still give in to my worries and my fears. That is why everyday I just ask the Lord to increase my faith and to trust Him fully because when I look at my life, all my worries and my fears never really materialize!

 

I just came from a Holy Thursday retreat with Bro. Bo Sanchez. The theme of the retreat is “When you’re down to nothing, God is up for something”. It is when we hit rock bottom that God will say to us “ Peace be with you”. God will make everything work out. God will teach us through the trials that come in our life. We just have to listen to Him and we can only do that if we have a strong relationship with God. Start now. Our trials are not God’s rejections, but God’s redirection. God created us to be champion! So why worry? Why don’t we trust God instead? When He says, “Peace be with you”, He is telling us that He is in control.

 

Let us put to heart the Responsorial Psalm today. “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love is everlasting”. His mercy endures forever. When we are hard pressed and falling, the Lord helps us. Our strength and our courage is the Lord. He is our Savior. Be at peace. God is always with us. He is beside us always in whatever circumstances we are in. So instead of fear, let us replace it with thanks. Give thanks to God always. And His blessings will just pour out to us abundantly. Trust and obey God, give Honor to Him first.

Peace be with you.

Prayer

Our loving and merciful God, thank You for Your offer of peace. May the Easter fire set my heart aflame and be the fire that starts other fires in this world. Hold my heart close and sing Your love to me so my doubts and fears will go away. May I recognize Your face in those around me and bring healing into their wounds. Give me  Your peace that I may have the compassion to love them as You unconditionally love me. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

" GAP "

“ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. “

 First Reading: 2 Chronicles 36:14-17, 19-23

Likewise all the princes of Judah, the priests and the people added infidelity to infidelity, practicing all the abominations of the nations and polluting the LORD'S temple which he had consecrated in Jerusalem. Early and often did the LORD, the God of their fathers, send his messengers to them, for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets, until the anger of the LORD against his people was so inflamed that there was no remedy.

Then he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who slew their young men in their own sanctuary building, sparing neither young man nor maiden, neither the aged nor the decrepit; he delivered all of them over into his grip. They burnt the house of God, tore down the walls of Jerusalem, set all its palaces afire, and destroyed all its precious objects. Those who escaped the sword he carried captive to Babylon, where they became his and his sons' servants until the kingdom of the Persians came to power.

All this was to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah: "Until the land has retrieved its lost sabbaths, during all the time it lies waste it shall have rest while seventy years are fulfilled." In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD inspired King Cyrus of Persia to issue this proclamation throughout his kingdom, both by word of mouth and in writing: "Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: 'All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me, and he has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people, let him go up, and may his God be with him!'"

Resp. Psalm: Psalms 137:1-2, 3-4-5-6

Second Reading: Ephisians 2:4-10

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ (by grace you have been saved), raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast. For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.

Gospel: John 3:14-21

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life." For God so loved the world that he gave  his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already be condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

Reflection:

By Grace Madriñan

Since my father’s death last December, I became insecure, physically and emotionally drained. I developed certain fears which I didn’t realize before. Fears which are all associated to losing the “man in the house”. Because of this, I jumped to the next opportunity that could bring me happiness, something or someone that could take away those fears. And the moment I felt that certain joy, I hold on to it with  dear life, hoping it would last a lifetime.

But God intervened before I drown to my self-made happiness. He gave me opportunities to see what I am so blinded to recognize. Then on one faithful morning, drenched in prayer, His message came to me loud and clear. First, He said that despite my urgent need to fulfill my happiness, He would still want me to do the right thing and not to be swayed by the dictates of society. Second, He said that He wills my happiness, but He wanted something that would last forever, not the transitory kind. Third and the best of all, He said that He loves me and that there is nothing He would not give to me. He asked me to “remain in His love”, “hold on” and “await His perfect time”.

The Words from today’s Gospel, clearly confirms it all: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life (John 3:16)” If God gave His only Son then, what would He not give?  There may be a gap in our hearts today, we may try everything to fill those gaps, but nothing can fill it except the kind of love that only God can give.  We may be thrown down in the pit of sorrows, but we can be assured that our Father who loves us will pull us through. Just as Jesus has died and resurrected from the cross, so shall God will redeem us from our afflictions.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for giving us Your Son,  Who is a clear reminder for us that there is nothing You would not give for the sake of Your people. May we remain in Your love as we await Your perfect plan for us. Amen.