Homily | May 5, 2026 | Unshakable Peace | (Episode 113)

In the first reading, we hear they stoned Paul, dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.

But when the disciples gathered around him, he got up and entered the city.

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.

What does he do?

He gets up, bruised, bloodied, probably still shaking, and walks right back into the place where they tried to kill him.

That is not normal behavior, that is not our human instinct, that's conviction.

And then he says something even more unsettling.

It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.

Not optional, not unfortunate, necessary.

This is where most modern Christianity quietly parts ways with the gospel.

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.

If things get hard, we instinctively question whether we are on the right path.

Paul would look at the same and say, You completely misunderstood this.

Hardship is not a detour from the path to the kingdom.

It is the path.

Now, if we go to the gospel, Jesus says, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you.

Not as the world gives, do I give it to you?

At first glance, it sounds like a contradiction.

Paul is getting stoned, chased, persecuted, and telling people suffering is necessary.

And then Jesus is promising peace.

Well, which is it?

This is where you have to get very precise, or you will misunderstand everything.

The world's version of peace is not the absence of conflict.

It is comfort, predictability, control.

When everything around you is stable, you feel at peace.

Well, Jesus is offering something entirely different.

His peace is not the absence of suffering, it is the presence of God in the middle of it.

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.

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.

He's not naive.

He knows suffering is coming.

He knows the cross is hours away, but he also knows something deeper.

He has no power over me.

This is the kind of peace he's giving.

Not a life where nothing touches you but a soul that cannot be conquered.

And then Jesus gives you the key to it all.

The world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me.

Peace comes from that alignment.

Jesus is at peace, even facing the cross, because he is perfectly united to the will of the Father.

There's no division in him, no internal resistance, no second guessing.

That is why he is unshakable.

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.

Not because life is hard, it's because we're divided.

Part of us wants God and part of us wants to control.

Part of us wants truth, but part of us want comfort.

And those parts are constantly fighting each other.

You cannot have deep peace with a divided heart.

Paul is not divided, Jesus is not divided.

They are clear about who they belong to and they live accordingly, even when it costs them everything.

So here's the question you cannot avoid today.

Are you looking for world peace or Christ's peace?

Because if you're looking for a life without hardship, you're going to be constantly disappointed.

And it will drain you.

You will start believing something is wrong with your faith.

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.

Then even in the middle of pressure, uncertainty, trials, difficulties, even in suffering, there's a place in you that is steady, grounded, unshaken.

And that is the kind of peace no one can ever take away from you.

Amen.