27 April 2027 · Latin Rite
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“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” John 14:27
Yesterday the crowd at Lystra wanted to worship Paul; today, stirred up by opponents who have followed him from Antioch and Iconium, the same crowd stones him, drags him out of the city and leaves him for dead. Luke tells the next moment very simply: “when the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the city.” The next day he walks on to Derbe. Then comes the surprising part. Instead of taking the short road home, Paul and Barnabas turn back through Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, the very towns where they had been threatened and beaten, to strengthen the new disciples. Their message is honest: “It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God.” They appoint elders in each church and, “with prayer and fasting,” entrust them “to the Lord in whom they had come to believe.” Here we see the Church taking shape: local communities with their own pastors, handed over to the Lord in prayer. Years later Paul would remind Timothy, himself a young man of Lystra (Acts 16:1), of “what persecutions I endured” there, “Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them” (2 Timothy 3:11). Back in Syrian Antioch the missionaries gather the church and tell “all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles.” They do not report their own sufferings first; they report what God has done. Note too that the opposition came from some who were stirred up, while Paul and Barnabas were themselves Jews, and Jews were among their first converts; Luke's story is never a charge against a whole people.
In the Gospel Jesus, at the Supper, speaks of a peace that can survive stones: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.” The world's peace is the absence of trouble, and it lasts only until the next trouble comes. The peace of Christ is his own presence, given on the night before he dies, and it can live in a heart surrounded by trouble. He knows what is coming: “the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me; but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.” And he ends with words of quiet resolve: “Rise, let us be on our way.” The risen Lord's first word to the apostles on Easter evening will be this same gift: “Peace be with you.” Paul, rising from the stones and walking back into the city, shows us what that peace looks like in a human life.
Theme: “My peace I give to you.”
Paul rises from the stones, the young churches are strengthened, and Christ gives a peace the world cannot give.
“Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.” Micah 7:8
“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;” 2 Corinthians 4:8–9
Apply: Like the disciples at Lystra, stand beside someone who has been knocked down this week: visit, call or pray with them.
“I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Isaiah 49:6
“Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut.” Revelation 3:8
Apply: Pray by name this week for your parish priest and for one missionary you know, entrusting them to the Lord.
“Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace— in peace because they trust in you.” Isaiah 26:3
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7
Apply: When anxiety rises this week, stop and pray slowly: Lord Jesus, give me your peace.
Paul rose from the stones and went back to strengthen the churches.
The peace he carried was not the world's calm but the risen Christ's own presence, given to us at every Mass.
Take-home resolution: Make the sign of peace at Mass a real prayer for the person beside you.
Dear friends, yesterday the crowd at Lystra wanted to worship Paul as a god. Today, stirred up by others, the same crowd stones him and drags him out of the city, thinking he is dead. Crowds change quickly. Praise and stones can come from the same hands within a few days.
But listen to what happens next: when the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the city (Acts 14:20). Not out of the city, into it. And soon Paul and Barnabas go back through every town where they had suffered, to strengthen the new believers: it is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). They do not promise an easy road. They promise that the road leads to the kingdom.
Where did Paul find such strength? In the gift Jesus left on the night before he died: peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives (John 14:27). The world's peace means no trouble. Christ's peace means his presence in the middle of the trouble. That is why Paul could rise from the stones.
Each of us has been hit by stones of some kind: criticism, illness, failure, betrayal. The risen Lord does not always stop the stones. He gives us his peace and says, as he said at the Supper: rise, let us be on our way (John 14:31). Let us receive his peace today, and carry it to someone whose heart is troubled. Amen.
Children, some people threw stones at Paul and he fell down. Everyone thought he was dead! But his friends stood around him, and Paul got up and kept telling people about Jesus. Jesus gives us a special present called peace. It is like a calm, warm feeling inside that Jesus is with you, even when something is hard. Tonight, before you sleep, say: Jesus, give me your peace.
Lord Jesus Christ, on the night before you died you left us your peace, a peace the world cannot give and cannot take away. When stones are thrown at us, help us to rise again as Paul did and walk back into the city with courage. Strengthen all who suffer for the faith, bless the pastors of your Church, and keep open the door of faith that you have opened for all nations. Who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.