Tuesday 5 May 2026
Acts 14:19-28. Your friends tell the glory of your kingship, Lord – Ps 144(145):10-13, 21. John 14:27-31.
Allow Jesus to speak
The reading says that St Paul put ‘fresh heart into the disciples’. How? He begins by acknowledging the reality of their lives. ‘We all have to experience many hardships,’ he says. Indeed, sometimes the effort to avoid pain is effectively an effort to avoid God. Social media, TV, gossip, gambling and excessive consumption can all be drugs, anodynes against uncomfortable realities. Sitting still with our hopes and fears, joys and griefs can be unsettling. Often enough, doing nothing lets us see that God is doing something. Although the reading shows St Paul moving around many places, it ends with the observation that he ‘stayed there some time’. Paul had a life-changing relationship with Jesus. No doubt, he spent a long time with Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel: ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.’ This is easier said than done. A lot of people make piles of money from anxiety. Let us allow Jesus to speak to our least secure places.
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