Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Tuesday of the fifth week of Easter, May 20, 2025

Delivered by Vivian from the Parish of Saint Thomas the Apostle in the Archdiocese of Jakarta, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostels 14: 19-28; Rs psalm 145: 10-11.12-13ab.21; John 14: 27-31a.PEACE IS OUR WEAPON Our meditation today has the title:Peace Is Our Weapon. There was a Catholic teenage student who was always thetarget of bullying of his friends at school. However hard the situation was, healways reminded himself of the advice from his parents and the parish Priest towhom he used to come for a necessary counsel. Every time his friends bulliedhim, he always defended himself with the image of the Lord Jesus beinginsulted, tortured, and crucified, but he never fought back. Jesus faced allthose bad treatments in the peacefulness of heart and mind. Jesus fought all forms of violence ina peaceful manner he took from His Father. His followers, as shown by thatteenager, are ready for any kind of suffering that He himself had experiencedbecause He had prepared them. The apostles of Jesus proved to be ready to faceeverything and they feared nothing, because the peaceful weapon has been farmore powerful than any other weapons the world may offer. Saints Paul andBarnabas showed how this weapon was greatly helpful when they built andstrengthened the existence of the Church in the places they visited. The Church and followers of Christ inall places and times realize that Jesus' prophecy is always fulfilled, namely,the cup of suffering that he had drunk is also drunk by his followers. The samepeaceful weapon is still usefull today. The famous sentence that is alwaysrepeated in the celebration of the Eucharist confirms the power of this weaponas expressed in the words, "Peace, I leave you, my peace I give you." Jesus Christ gives us peace from Himselfas a very useful weapon, and the best time to use it is when we are underpressure and in any form of danger or threat. He has prepared us with thisstrategy. He already knew what would happen to each of his followers in facingvarious difficulties and sufferings. In every act of kindness and truththat His followers do in His name, the sufferings and difficulties would comealong the way. We should admit that Christ's kindness and truth are contrary tothe spirit and culture of the world. But Jesus and His followers do not giveup. The cross must indeed be borne and not cursed or thrown away. After thecross there is a victory, our resurrection. There will be eternal life. So we must be grateful and joyfulbecause Jesus Christ prepares us to face the worst situation in this world,arms us with His own peace. Imagine if he arms us for example with a sword orrifle, it could be that the current Christianity and the Church today might bethe worst human group in the world. Peace from Jesus is our real victory. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... Lord Jesus Christ, fill our hearts with Your peace, that we can winour own souls and those of others, especially those who are against You and theChurch, and may Your Reign be exalted. Our Father  who art in heaven... In the name of the Father...