Fifth Sunday of Easter

Dear Friends,

Let not your hearts be troubled! What a wonderful message we get to receive right from Jesus Christ Himself this Sunday. Our Lord and Savior often tells us not to fear. How great a consoler He is, the true healer of all wounds! He is constantly reminding us of His love and the desires He has for us through the gifts, for instance, that He gives us in our day-to-day lives, and also through Scripture: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:3). God is so good! Our goal in life should be to become saints, and how lucky are we that our Father wants us to go to Heaven even more than we may want to ourselves! As Jesus tells us, there are many rooms in His Father’s house, and He is going to prepare a place for us and will come take us to Himself.

Jesus isn’t asking us to rely on ourselves to get there, He’s instead asking us to trust in and lean on Him! As His beloved children, He wants us to open our arms wide to Him, and let Him carry us there. It is through Him that all things are possible after all! What is a way that you can be more childlike in the eyes of the Father, you might ask? Turn to Him in prayer! Something good happens? Tell Him all about it and thank Him! Something bad happens? Talk to Him and ask Him to help you bear your cross as gracefully as He did on Calvary. He wants to hear everything that is on your heart. The more we talk to Him, invite Him in, and follow Him, the more we become like Him too!

Who doesn’t want to become more like the God who is the way, the truth, and the life Himself? He goes before us always and guides the way! How grateful can we be that God so humbly took on human form, experienced humanity as we do, minus sin of course, and thus reveals our Heavenly Father to us. As St. Pauls writes in his Letter to the Philippians, “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (4:8). We know that the Lord is all of these characteristics thanks to Jesus and His incredible witness here on Earth. Let us “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” and ask for the strength to emulate Him (Romans 13:14).

Giulia Mazzarelli
Penn FOCUS Missionary