Fifth Sunday of Easter A

Jn 14: 1-12

Five-year old Johnny is in the kitchen with his mother who is preparing supper. She asks him to go to the basement and fetch her a can of tomato soup. “It’s dark in there and I’m scared,” replies Johnny. The mother tries to convince him it is safe to go alone to the basement but without much success. Finally she says “It’s all right, Johnny, Jesus will be in there with you.” Johnny walks hesitantly to the door and slowly opens it. He peeps inside, sees that it is still dark in there, and starts to go back. Then, suddenly he gets an idea. He opens the basement door a little and yells: “Jesus, if you’re in there, would you hand me a can of tomato soup, please?”

Not too long ago, I remember a big headlines in the news about a nineteen year old student in Erfurt Germany who killed 17 students and teachers in his school. The number of people killed in this tragedy was far greater than the number of student fatalities in any rampaged school shooting that ever occurred in the US, including Columbine High School. Because of this horrifying incident, we wonder what is really happening to the young generation of today. Then we continue to hear the on-going conflict in the Middle East, and Iraq, which to this time continue to threaten the stability of the region, because of this war and conflict. The world of nations seems to be incapacitated to do anything to help solve this ongoing conflict. At this point, we are all uncertain as to where this conflict will lead us to. Then the news of the scandal in the Catholic Church is not fading away as well. The onslaught of the Media on this current scandal continues to haunt the Church and its people. Pope Benedict addressed so much this issue in his state visit here in the United States.

Against the background of this horrific tragedy and these senseless death of many young people, coupled with the on-going conflict and wars in many parts of the world, and the news of sex scandals in the Church, and not to mention our personal tragedies, we wonder where our life and our world is leading to. Because of what is happening in our world today, some people are simply scared and frightened. Some have simply lost their faith on any given system, while others have lost their sense of hope for a brighter tomorrow.

My dear brothers and sisters, despite all the evils around us, Christ teaches us today that we must never lose faith, that we must never lose hope. The Lord tells us today in the gospel: “ Do not let your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me.” We must convince ourselves that in spite of the evils and tragedies around us, that there is a provident God who continues to love and care for us but exacts vengeance on evil people in the end of time.

Christ words are, of course, very consoling and reassuring. But for many of us they don’t strike us as reassuring at all. We may even dismiss them as unrealistic. How can Jesus assure us not to be troubled? Does he not realize what is happening around us?

But aside from the evils in the world, we also get caught up with the problems and troubles in our personal lives. Sometimes we are faced with troubles in the workplace, troubles in our family, our marriage; parents have troubles with their children and children have troubles with their parents. All of these upset our peace of mind.

And we ask: doesn’t Jesus realize all these troubles? The answer is that he does know about them; that’s why his words are as relevant as they are consoling. Jesus knows about troubles because he himself experienced them. He had troubles with the Pharisees who kept criticizing him and watching closely his every move. He had troubles with his disciples some of whom were ambitious and slow to understand. He had some fear of his impending death.

Yet, in spite of all these, Jesus could still say with calmness: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Have faith in God and faith in me.”

But what kind of faith is Jesus asking of us? The faith that Jesus recommends is not an escape from reality. Rather, it is a declaration that even if the worst does happen, we will not be destroyed by it. If we believe in his words, we have to convince ourselves that there is a provident God who continues to love and care for us.

There is the story of a woman named Delia. She experienced a very unstable and unhappy childhood. The turning point in her life came when she married David, a find young man in every aspect. In the marriage, Delia found stability and the optimism and the joy she had been denied during growing-up years. Then came the first child and with the birth, the discovery that Delia had multiple sclerosis(hardening of the arteries). From the time of the discovery, she and David lived life the best they could, maybe more than most people do in a long lifetime. They resolved to make the most of the situation they were in, even though they didn’t comprehend why. Just when Delia’s life had turned around so beautifully, her life now is being cut down by a progressively fatal disease. But they trust God and did much to enrich the lives of people around them. Not long before she died, Delia, still only in her mid-thirties, was talking to a close friend who marveled at her tremendous trust in God’s goodness. “Don’t you ever have any doubts?” the friend asked. “No, Delia good-naturedly replied, “because I know that God will never abandon me. I just figure that some not-so-bright angel up there has lost my file. But God will find it in his own good time.” Although Delia died, she was at peace with God. Her unwavering faith never allowed her to be crushed by her affliction. Would we have a similar faith?

Faith should, however, not be fatalistic. It should not make us shy away from doing our responsibility. If you can solve your problems, by all means, do it. But when there are situations beyond remedy, for the moment at least, then you just have to accept with patience and learn to live with them.

As the German Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr puts it prayerfully:

God grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can change; and wisdom to know the difference between both.