5th Sunday of Easter —
1. Troubled Hearts and a Promise
When
Jesus speaks in today’s Gospel, the apostles are unsettled.
They
sense something is changing.
They know he is leaving.
And they are
troubled.
So
Jesus says: “Do not let your hearts be
troubled. Believe in God, believe also
in me.”
And
then he gives them a promise: “I go to
prepare a place for you… so that where I am, you also may be.”
That
is good news. But here’s the problem: they don’t really receive it—not at first.
And
that can happen to us.
2. The Message That Was Misplaced
Earlier
this week, something unusual happened at the rectory.
Several
of us received an email from someone we know at the Archdiocese—someone who
regularly sends important messages.
But
this time, it didn’t show up in the inbox.
It
went straight to the spam folder.
Now
you know what that means.
Spam
is where suspicious messages go.
Messages you’re told not to trust or open.
So
at first glance, it looked like something to ignore.
But
something didn’t seem right.
So
we called her.
“Did
you send this?”
She
said, “Yes—it’s real.”
And
it turned out, it was a real message—
something we needed to act on.
But
the system filtered it out.
Why?
Because
it was sent to many people.
It didn’t seem personal enough.
So
it was treated as something to ignore.
We
almost missed it completely.
3. How We Filter the Gospel
And
that’s when it struck me:
We
can do the same thing with the Gospel.
Jesus
speaks clearly:
- forgive your
enemies
- do not let your
hearts be troubled
And
most of us agree with that—in general.
But
when it becomes personal?
That’s
where the filtering happens.
“Forgive
your enemies…”
That’s a good idea—but this situation is different.
“Do
not let your hearts be troubled…”
That sounds nice—but I have real worries.
And
little by little,
we don’t actually delete the Gospel—
we
just leave it in the spam folder, unread.
Not
because it isn’t true,
but because we don’t fully receive it.
4. Why We Need Others
And
here’s something important.
The
only reason we found that email
was because one person saw it and said,
“This might matter.”
That
matters.
Because
in the Christian life,
we don’t come to faith alone.
We
need others:
- to be witnesses
to us,
- to help us
recognize what is true,
- to walk with us
as we try to live it out.
Sometimes
the very thing troubling us
is something we need to say out loud.
And
that’s why the Church gives us the sacrament of confession.
Not
just to list sins,
but to speak honestly,
to be heard,
and to hear the truth spoken back to us.
To
be reminded:
this is real.
God is present.
Don’t ignore Him.
That’s
why, in Acts, the apostles say:
“We
will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
Because
the Word of God must not be neglected.
It
must not be filtered out.
5. A Real-Life Example
Let
me give you a real-life example.
Over
the past few years, my siblings and I
have been helping my father with his affairs.
That
includes difficult conversations.
Conversations
like:
“Dad…
what happens when you’re not here?”
“What’s
the plan for this? For that?”
No
one wants to start there.
But
they are necessary.
And
to his credit, my father has been open.
Sometimes
he says, “That’s enough for today.”
And we stop.
But
we come back to it.
Because
it’s real.
Because
life doesn’t last forever.
And love requires responsibility.
6. Two Ways to Respond
I
remember a friend of mine whose father was dying.
His
father would say similar things.
And
my friend said:
“I
think he’s being too dramatic.”
But
he wasn’t being dramatic.
He
was being realistic.
7. The Gospel Is Reality
And
that’s the point.
Jesus
is not being dramatic in today’s Gospel.
When
he says:
“I
go to prepare a place for you…”
He
is telling the truth.
There
is a life beyond this world.
There
is a place prepared.
There
is a future with God.
The
question is not whether the message is real.
The
question is:
Will
we receive it?
Or will we filter it out?
8. Conclusion: Receive the Message
So
today, Jesus speaks directly to you:
“Do
not let your hearts be troubled.
Believe in me.”
Where
have I been filtering this out?
Where have you been filtering this out?
The
message is real.
The place is prepared.
And
Jesus is not trying to take anything from you—
he
is reaching out so that you may know
his love has always been there,
and
calling you personally
to believe,
to follow,
and to come home.
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