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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said,

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.

Believe in God, believe also in me.”

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– John 14:1 (NRSV)

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FIRST REFLECTION…

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“Do not let your hearts be troubled.”

Jesus is so tender and comforting,

and, knowing that our minds can be so full of anxiety, perplexity and preoccupation,

He addresses all of us with tender and inimitably beautiful truths of His gospel.

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His truths allay every fear;

they silence every complaint;

they give every needed consolation to the soul

bringing peace to the troubled heart.

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"My peace I give to you," Jesus also tells us (Jn 14:27),

and it is this divine peace, this unsurpassable gift

that is available to all of us

as we strive to trust in Him

and to do what He tells us.

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Jesus’ peace is that enabling grace

which helps those who trust in the Lord

in their efforts to deal with the worries and situations of daily life.

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Jesus’ peace begins in the hearts of believers

and becomes the fruit of their efforts.

It is a peace that produces that indescribable inner joy of faith and hope

which endures all circumstances.

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SECOND REFLECTION…

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“Believe in God, believe also in me.”

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“That Jesus is a man, no one denies.

That He is a prophet, one sent from God,

is also admitted almost universally.

Many stay at that point.

But it is not enough. […]

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The leap by which one passes to be a Christian in the true sense

is when one proclaims, like the man blind from birth,

that Jesus is "Lord"

and adores Him as God.

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Christian faith is not primarily to believe in something

– that God exists, that there is something beyond –

but to believe in someone.

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Jesus in the Gospel does not give us a list of things to believe;

He says, "Believe in God; believe also in me." .

For Christians,

to believe is to believe in Jesus Christ.”

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– Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Jesus, give me Your peace – look not on my sins and failings, but at my faith in You.

Lord, forgive me and heal me…and fill me with Your peace.

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