May 18th. Fifth Sunday in Easter.

Many of you may have seen the film, “The Lord of the Rings- The Fellowship of the Ring?” It is the first in a trilogy written by the great Catholic writer, JRR Tolkien. In preparing today’s homily I thought of this movie, because in a scene from this very Catholic movie, we hear these words “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” The scene was when the companions of the ring had just narrowly escaped from a dangerous journey in the mines of Moria, where their leader Gandolf, after battling what can only be described as a demon from hell itself, had fallen into the deep and was lost forever, at least so it seemed. The mission of the remaining members of the “Companion of the Ring, was now to some pull themselves back together in order to flee from their present danger, only to go into even greater danger in order to destroy an evil ring of power that was in their possession. Needless to say, they are anxious and afraid, not knowing what was going to happen next. And so, worn out, both from this perilous journey and from the anxiety from the dismal future they faced, the group enters the home of the elfin princess, the Lady Galadriel. She looks at each one and says ever so warmly speaking to the depths of their tired and aching hearts, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Things are never without hope.

We hear these same words today in our Gospel. But here they are not spoken in a fairy tale, but in reality by God Himself in person. By these words, Jesus, who is God in the flesh, is preparing his disciples for his upcoming passion and death. Jesus here has just celebrated the Last Supper-the first Holy Mass and unites it to His passion by speaking of His blood which is about to poured out. The apostles, his closest friends, have heavy hearts to say the least. And, they know they themselves are about to go into danger with Jesus. A darkness has come over their hearts and minds; they just don’t know what will happen next. They are anxious and full of fear over Jesus impeding death and their own seeming soon to be death. Yet, Jesus, as the true and living God, sees this in their hearts and tells them with so much concern and compassion in his voice, “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”

The example of the scene from the movie, the Lord of the Rings, and Jesus’ upcoming passion in this Gospel, were both very dramatic events filled with anxiety and fear, Jesus passion however unlike the movie, was of course real. For us, perhaps we do not personal face this intensity of drama. But we do face situations that make us anxious and fearful and so Jesus today speaks in person to each one of us.

Our current world is filled with much that can make us anxious and fearful. We can become anxious and fearful from all sorts of circumstances in our lives. These can be financial, or family problems, or an serious illness or the illness of, or death of a loved one. All of this, and world events can make us feel overwhelmed by fear and anxiety, a kind of darkness can take over our lives and enter into our hearts and minds. We can begin to live by just trying to get through the next week, over even through the next day. What will happen next? We can become so full of anxiety and fear that we become hopeless and fall into the deep, into despair. Where do we turn for help? Who will help us out of the mess in our lives and in our world? Why is all of this happening to me?

It is then that we need to listen these words of Jesus who speaks to us in the depths of our heart, even in the darkness of our current situation-Jesus who is always present to us, speaks to us in the present moment- “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” How can we hear these words of Jesus address to us personally? Through prayer from our hearts, from the depths of our being…crying out….de profundis clamor meus ad te veniat dominum….out of the depths I cry unto thee O Lord….

When we turn to Jesus in heartfelt prayer we find in our conversation with Him a peace that surpasses all understanding; we discover that Jesus speaks these words to us personally in the present moment what ever may be occuring in the present moment. It is only in intimate prayer that we will find peace, the peace that our hearts long for. Prayer is a real, active, intimate action and friendship with the person of Jesus Christ. In this type of relationship we are enabled, empowered to face the anxieties and fears of our circumstances with confidence, with fortitude and begin to rebuild our hope that has been weakened by fear, anxiety and despair.

Hope is the very antidote for fear and despair. When the world (or even members and leaders of the Church), loses hope, it turns instead to violence and terror, to worldly power. Hope is a theological virtue: it is to long to be with Jesus for eternity and to trust in Him during our time here on earth, that he never abandon us, that He brings us His mercy and forgiveness; and by doing so to already obtain that or who in which we hope for, Jesus Himself. Hope unites with Jesus already in the present moment what ever that moment may be. And so, nothing can get in the way of this except ourself, that is if we fail to turn to and pray to Jesus, to cry out to Jesus, in order to trust in Jesus.

Hope, however is a difficult virtue for any of us to live, especially when we are in the heat of the battle. And so, we can only live hope in a deep relationship with Jesus- in and through our prayer. It is only in prayer that our hope is strengthened; and prayer not just in the heat of the moment when we need Jesus, but prayer before the heat of the moment comes…in fact we always need Jesus even in times of apparent calm. Now I am not speaking here about just formal prayer, which is definitely needed. But I am talking about intimate prayer, prayer in which we approach and speak to Jesus as we would our dearest and truest friend, because He is.

I like to teach little children why we need to pray to Jesus every day. Not just memorized prayers, Our Fathers, Hail Mary’s, and Glory be’s as important and needed as these are, but prayer in which we pray to Jesus as our best friend. I ask children if they pray every day? Usually they tell me, “well not every day.” Then I usually ask them this question. “What would happen if you didn’t speak to your best friend at school every day or if you went to his house and didn’t talk to him? I always get the same correct answer from the children, “then we wouldn’t be friends.

Well what happens if you and I don’t talk to Jesus? We wouldn’t be friends either. Then we should always talk to Jesus everyday, just like we talk to our best friends, because Jesus is always with us and he wants to be our dearest and truest friends. What is it called when you talk to Jesus? Prayer. I then ask the children, “why try to face your cares and anxieties alone.” I tell them, “Do not let your problems trouble your heart, have hope in Jesus--trust him.”

The same is true as adults with our relationship with Jesus- do we speak to him each and everyday? Do we speak to him in intimate terms telling him all of our dreams, cares and concerns, do we tell him we don’t feel like praying; or even that we are mad at Him; or that we are afraid. For a long time, I personally never realize that one could speak to Jesus in this way. When I found out I could speak to him honestly as a friend and tell him everything, my relationship with him changed, I began to have more peace in my life, even amidst my troubles. Without this type of prayer, we don’t have much of a relationship with Jesus and we surely don’t have peace.

In our world and in our lives without this type of relationship, without prayer, both formal and conversational with Jesus, anxiety, fear and despair can take control and we can feel completely hopeless. Without daily prayer, we fall into sin and our hope is weakened even more, we no longer posses what we need to face the burdens of this world. With the current unsettling drama unfolding in our world we need, more than ever, to be on intimate speaking terms with Jesus who longs to tell us personally, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”

The problem of course with praying to Jesus like this, is that it is the very business of our lives and its cares and concerns, which make it difficult for us to pray to Jesus in this way and daily. I know that even as a priest I struggle to find time to have daily conversation with Jesus. All the cares of my day can distract me, and if I am not careful before I know it, I can go most the day without an intimate conversation with our Lord. In times of great struggle, such as an illness or economic struggle, it is easy to take our eyes off of Jesus and begin to give into fear and so lose our peace, we fail to realize that Jesus is with us in the present moment, again however difficult the present moment might be.

As we approach the end of the Easter Season and the great Solemnities of the Ascension of our Lord into heaven and the following Sunday, Pentecost Sunday, let us turn to the Holy Spirit to help us in our weakness and to help us to daily pray intimately to Jesus even when its hard and devoid of feelings. Jesus has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit to be our advocate, our divine helper.

It is the Holy Spirit who helps us to pray and draw closer to Jesus. Pope Francis, at His weekly audiences in Rome has been teaching on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This past week He taught about the gift of fortitude; Francis explained that the gifts of the Spirit – wisdom, understanding and counsel – “enable us to contemplate God’s loving plan and to know his will,” but through the gift of fortitude, “we receive the strength to do God’s will in spite of our own natural weakness and limitations.” He said:

“In our everyday life, in difficult times it would do us good to say this 'I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me,'” said the Pope. “The Lord always gives us strength, the Lord never gives us more than we can handle, 'I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.'"

The Holy Father acknowledged that “sometimes we may be tempted to allow ourselves to be overtaken by laziness or despondency, especially when faced with the hardships and trials of life.”
Yet, he said, “do not lose heart, but invoke the Holy Spirit.” In doing so, “He can lift our hearts and communicate new vigor and enthusiasm to our lives and our following Jesus.”:

Let us ask the Holy Spirit at this Holy Mass not only for an increase in hope, but also for an increase in the gift of fortitude. Let us ask Him to help us to pray more and with deeper intensity and intimacy and let us ask Him to help us to fix our eyes always on Jesus and never take our stare off of Him no matter what real drama is unfolding in the world around us. May He lead us to the source of our strength and hope, the very source of the Holy Spirit in our lives, that source is Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. In the Holy Eucharist through faith we see the face of the Father by seeing the face of the Son Jesus who is truly present their with His human face. In the Holy Eucharist Jesus comes to us, and if we are open, He leaves us the Holy Spirit to be our constant companion.

Let us pray: Holy Spirit, strengthen our faith to keep our eyes on Jesus, strengthen our hope to trust in Jesus fully, strengthen our love, our charity, to be always united to Him in perfect friendship, and through Him united to You and the Father.
Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary Your well beloved spouse. Holy Spirit, help us to pray and make us into best friends with Jesus, united to Him in and by Your divine power and love. Stengthen our fortitude, Give us a strong hope and grant us your peace, which surpasses all understanding. Amen.