“Do not let your hearts be troubled….
… I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself…”
John 14: 1-3

In readings from Acts of the Apostles in the weeks after Easter, fear-filled disciples of Jesus are suddenly fearless.  If I had lived in the time of Jesus, wouldn’t I have been among the women following him closely? I wouldn’t have doubted who he was; after the resurrection I would have recognized him instantly, and I would have been a bold witness to his life and message, courageously defying the authorities.

But … would I really have been that brave?  To be honest, I’m not especially bold today, and I often lack courage.  Yet Jesus promises us that he will give us what we need to be his witnesses. He will be at our side, always.

John’s Gospel took place at the last supper, when Jesus and his closest friends gathered to celebrate Passover.  He looked around the table and saw that his followers were filled with fear. 

As Pope Francis said of this scene, “He knows they are sad, for they realize that things are not going well. So now Jesus encourages them, cheers them, reassures them and unfolds before them a horizon of hope. ‘Let not your hearts be troubled.’”  In the midst of the grief of those around him, Francis says, Jesus draws closer to them.

He is with them – and with us – especially in times of great sadness or when we lack courage.  He offers us hope in the warmest and most loving way: “I go and prepare a place for you.  I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.”

Our faith in Jesus is not about how much we know, but how much we love.  It’s not using our 21st Century logical brains to analyze his message.  It means listening with our hearts.

He speaks to our hearts with his words and his actions.  Today he tells us not to let our hearts be troubled.  And better yet, his promise is one of waiting to take us to himself.  He’s not waiting for us to die to take us to himself – he is waiting at every moment for us to really listen and open our hearts to him – now. 

We don’t have to have lived 2,000 years ago to witness to the life of Jesus. We are called to witness every day by the way we live our lives.  His message was one of caring for the poorest among us and of lifting up the outcast.  That is a message from the heart of Jesus to our hearts – and that is what Jesus calls us to today.

Loving Jesus, please help me to have the courage to listen to your message and carry it in my life every day.  I want to be a witness for you today, as the early disciples were.  Let me feel your presence in my life and see clearly who you have put before me today who needs my love and support.  Let my heart not be troubled or afraid.