Tuesday of the 5th week of Eastertide
First Reading — Acts 14:19–28
They gave an account of how God had opened the door of faith to the pagans
Some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium, and turned the people against the apostles. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the town, thinking he was dead. The disciples came crowding round him but, as they did so, he stood up and went back to the town. The next day he and Barnabas went off to Derbe.
Having preached the Good News in that town and made a considerable number of disciples, they went back through Lystra and Iconium to Antioch. They put fresh heart into the disciples, encouraging them to persevere in the faith. ‘We all have to experience many hardships’ they said ‘before we enter the kingdom of God.’ In each of these churches they appointed elders, and with prayer and fasting they commended them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe.
They passed through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia. Then after proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia and from there sailed for Antioch, where they had originally been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.
On their arrival they assembled the church and gave an account of all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith to the pagans. They stayed there with the disciples for some time.
Responsorial Psalm — Psalm 144(145):10–13a,21
All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord,
and your friends shall repeat their blessing.
They shall speak of the glory of your reign
and declare your might, O God,
to make known to men your mighty deeds
and the glorious splendour of your reign.
Yours is an everlasting kingdom;
your rule lasts from age to age.
Gospel — John 14:27–31
A peace the world cannot give is my gift to you
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you,
a peace the world cannot give,
this is my gift to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
You heard me say: I am going away, and shall return.
If you loved me you would have been glad to know that I am going to the Father,
for the Father is greater than I.
I have told you this now before it happens,
so that when it does happen you may believe.
I shall not talk with you any longer,
because the prince of this world is on his way.
He has no power over me,
but the world must be brought to know
that I love the Father
and that I am doing exactly what the Father told me.’
Reflection
Paul’s experience strips away any illusion about what following Christ will look like. He is attacked, rejected, and nearly killed—and then continues. Not because the situation improves, but because his direction is not determined by circumstances.
This reveals something essential: hardship is not an interruption to the path—it is often part of it. The Catechism recognises that the journey of faith involves trials that purify and strengthen trust in God (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church 164).
But the Gospel shifts the focus from endurance to interior reality.
“Peace I give you.” Not the absence of conflict, but the presence of something deeper. Christ distinguishes His peace from what the world offers because it is not dependent on outcomes. It is rooted in communion with Him.
This matters, because most of us postpone peace. We attach it to resolution, clarity, or control. But Christ places it in a different space—within the person who trusts Him, even before things settle (cf. CCC 736).
And this is where growth becomes exacting.
Not in removing difficulty, but in choosing where you stand within it. Whether you allow circumstances to define your interior state, or whether you begin to anchor yourself in something that does not shift as easily.
The apostles did not continue because they were unaffected.
They continued because they were grounded.
And that grounding did not come from certainty about what would happen next.
It came from knowing who they were following.
One line to carry today:
Peace is not the result of control—it is the fruit of trust.
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