WEBVTT 00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:08.400 In the first reading, we hear they stoned Paul, dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:12.960 But when the disciples gathered around him, he got up and entered the city. 00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:22.879 If we read that again slowly, he does not run, he does not hide, he does not say, Well, maybe God is telling me to tone it down. 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:23.760 What does he do? 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:32.240 He gets up, bruised, bloodied, probably still shaking, and walks right back into the place where they tried to kill him. 00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:38.719 That is not normal behavior, that is not our human instinct, that's conviction. 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:41.840 And then he says something even more unsettling. 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:47.679 It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. 00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:52.000 Not optional, not unfortunate, necessary. 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:58.320 This is where most modern Christianity quietly parts ways with the gospel. 00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:09.840 We have built an expectation often without even realizing it, that if we are doing God's will, things should smooth out, doors should open, peace should reign. 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:16.239 If things get hard, we instinctively question whether we are on the right path. 00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:22.799 Paul would look at the same and say, You completely misunderstood this. 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:27.040 Hardship is not a detour from the path to the kingdom. 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:28.640 It is the path. 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:34.560 Now, if we go to the gospel, Jesus says, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:38.719 Not as the world gives, do I give it to you? 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:42.799 At first glance, it sounds like a contradiction. 00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:48.640 Paul is getting stoned, chased, persecuted, and telling people suffering is necessary. 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:51.680 And then Jesus is promising peace. 00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:53.280 Well, which is it? 00:01:54.640 --> 00:02:00.400 This is where you have to get very precise, or you will misunderstand everything. 00:02:01.599 --> 00:02:05.840 The world's version of peace is not the absence of conflict. 00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:10.560 It is comfort, predictability, control. 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:16.240 When everything around you is stable, you feel at peace. 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:20.319 Well, Jesus is offering something entirely different. 00:02:20.639 --> 00:02:27.039 His peace is not the absence of suffering, it is the presence of God in the middle of it. 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:38.000 Paul can be stoned, left for dead, stand up and walk back into the city because his interior life is anchored somewhere the stones cannot reach. 00:02:38.879 --> 00:02:48.159 That is why Jesus can say, Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid, and in that same breath talk about the ruler of the world coming. 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:50.560 He's not naive. 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:52.719 He knows suffering is coming. 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:57.680 He knows the cross is hours away, but he also knows something deeper. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:00.080 He has no power over me. 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:03.599 This is the kind of peace he's giving. 00:03:03.919 --> 00:03:08.639 Not a life where nothing touches you but a soul that cannot be conquered. 00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:12.080 And then Jesus gives you the key to it all. 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:18.639 The world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me. 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:21.680 Peace comes from that alignment. 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:29.120 Jesus is at peace, even facing the cross, because he is perfectly united to the will of the Father. 00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:34.479 There's no division in him, no internal resistance, no second guessing. 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:37.039 That is why he is unshakable. 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:47.199 Now, if we bring that back to our lives, because this is where it gets uncomfortable, most of us lack peace because life is hard. 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:50.719 Not because life is hard, it's because we're divided. 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:56.000 Part of us wants God and part of us wants to control. 00:03:56.960 --> 00:04:01.439 Part of us wants truth, but part of us want comfort. 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:05.680 And those parts are constantly fighting each other. 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:09.680 You cannot have deep peace with a divided heart. 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:14.319 Paul is not divided, Jesus is not divided. 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:21.279 They are clear about who they belong to and they live accordingly, even when it costs them everything. 00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:24.720 So here's the question you cannot avoid today. 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:29.199 Are you looking for world peace or Christ's peace? 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:35.279 Because if you're looking for a life without hardship, you're going to be constantly disappointed. 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:37.120 And it will drain you. 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:40.639 You will start believing something is wrong with your faith. 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:51.279 And if you understand that hardship can be part of the path, and that the real presence is union with God in the middle of this, then everything changes. 00:04:52.720 --> 00:05:03.439 Then even in the middle of pressure, uncertainty, trials, difficulties, even in suffering, there's a place in you that is steady, grounded, unshaken. 00:05:03.759 --> 00:05:08.240 And that is the kind of peace no one can ever take away from you. 00:05:08.560 --> 00:05:09.199 Amen.