Fifth Sunday of Easter – … “Do not let your hearts be troubled”

Readings:

• First reading: Acts 6:1-7
• Psalm: Ps 32 – May your love be upon us, o Lord, as we place all our hope in you
• Second reading: Pt 2:4-9

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God still, and trust in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s house. […] I am now going to prepare a place for you, and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you with me; so that where I am you may be too”. (Jn 14: 1-3)

There is a room, a place for me in heaven. There is a place for you.

There is room for the poor and the rich alike, for who is forgotten or forlorn, for the drunk and the drug-addicted… even for those who do evil, even for the murderer.

All those who have turned their back to God have still a place preserved for them in heaven. God’s Mercy is amazing! The only thing to do is to repent and ask forgiveness, to change life and return to God with all the heart. Sometimes it is not so easy. But we have the chance to do so, and his grace will help us. God leaves us free to decide whether to choose Him or not, whether to take our place in heaven or to refuse it.

As a couple, who is expecting, arrange a nice and cheery room for their child, so the Father has prepared us a place in his House, through his Son Jesus Christ.

And Jesus has worked on it with love. With all his love, with all his life indeed: through the sacrifice of Himself on the cross.

“I have ardently longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Lk 22:14) – said the Master to his disciples during the last supper, on the night He was betrayed.

Our Lord’s desire to save us is far greater than our own wish to be saved.

He longed so ardently to bring us all in the Kingdom of Heaven, that He willingly underwent extreme suffering and death.

“I shall return to take you with me; so that where I am you may be too” (Jn 14:3)

These words show clearly the Lord’s loving concern for us.

He will accomplish what He has promised.

May you believe with all you heart that these words of Jesus are addressed to you.

How does heaven look like?

“What no eye has seen and no ear has heard, what the mind of man cannot visualise; all that God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9).

Our own eyes will see heaven one day.

Shall we let our place remain empty?

Shall we exclude ourselves from eternal joy, from the beatific vision of God?

Dear Lord,

thank you for having prepared a place for me in your Kingdom.

Thank you because it means that I have a place in your heart as well.

Help me to live my daily life keeping my eyes fixed on You,

Looking forward to the joy of seeing You face to face.

Do not let my sin, nor my own will, separate me from You,

Now and forever.

Amen.