Sunday, May 25, 2025

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ!

In the gospel passage this weekend, Jesus prepares His disciples for His departure and promises them the divine pres-ence of the Holy Trinity, including the abiding love of God the Father, the eternal peace of God the Son, and the guiding help of the Spirit. This presence is also extended to all the Christians so that they can overcome all the barriers and con-fidently walk with God on the journey of life. However, we should reflect on this gospel passage as guaranteed grace from God, but also a necessary instruction for us to act, to live and to respond correctly. For example, Jesus assures us that God the Father loves us deeply and desires to dwell within our hearts. Yet this divine promise finds its fulfillment only when we respond to His love with sincere faith and willing obedience. Our love for Him must reach beyond thoughts or words, even when we rest securely in the truth that we are His beloved children. It is expressed through trusting His plan and surrendering to His will, even when it challenges our own. It must flow through us and manifest in our acts of kindness, forgiveness, humility, and gratitude toward others. It is not fleeting or superficial, but calls us to a wholehearted response“with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength.”

Furthermore, Jesus guarantees that He leaves us His peace and gives it to us. This is not a fragile or fleeting peace, but a divine assurance that we are never truly alone, even in the midst of uncertainty, suffering, or trials in a broken world. Yet this peace becomes alive and transformative only when we choose to walk with Him, to carry the cross with Him, to die with Him, and to rise to new life with Him. We must remember that it is not the absence of hardship that defines His peace, but His faithful presence in the middle of distractions, temptations, and emotional turmoil. We must actively seek this eternal peace not as an escape from the world, but as the strength to endure everything with Christ beside us. We must use it to stir our hearts toward conversion after loss, to call us to reconciliation after disobedience, and to draw us into redemption after sin. We must apply it in our daily practice as as our spiritual instrument to live in hope, to surren-der in faith, and to believe that Jesus is always “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

Lastly, Jesus promises us that the Holy Spirit will come to guide, explain, share and analyze why we must obey God, what Jesus desires to teach us, and how we can pursue eternal life. The Holy Spirit is the very breath of God to dwell within us, shape our hearts, and walk with us daily on the path to the Kingdom of Heaven. However, because the pres-ence of God the Father is invisible and His plan often beyond our expectations, we need the Holy Spirit to help us rec-ognize His movement, obey His commandments, and live out His will freely and faithfully. Because the teachings of Jesus are profound, sometimes challenging, yet always transformative, we must allow the Holy Spirit to shape us from within so that we can believe what we read, proclaim what we believe, and practice what we proclaim. We must over-come our limited understanding, surrender our personal desires, and tune out evil distractions to truly follow His in-struction, accept His revelation, and understand what is right, holy, and forever life-giving.

Sincerely yours in Jesus Christ and Our Lady of La Vang!

Reverend Kiet Anh Ta.