The first reading and the Gospel today seem to be in contradiction. Although both are written by Luke, the Gospel says that Jesus’ ascension was on Easter Sunday and the Acts of the Apostles says it was 40 days after the resurrection.

Jesus brings peace; trust Him and preserve His legacy

Gospel: John 14:23–29
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.

We need a Spirit that will renew our conviction that our Savior is the Prince of Peace, so that we can bring his peace into our families, schools and workplaces. We also need the Spirit’s vision to appreciate the peacemaker and non-violent folks in our midst whose voices and actions are often ridiculed as being naive or ignored because their ways seem “impractical in our modern world.”

“The church must lead the way on the road to nonviolent settlement of difficulties and toward the gradual abolition of war as the way of settling international or civil disputes. Christians must become active in every possible way, mobilizing all their resources for the fight against war…”

What is most distinctive about these discourses [John 13:33 to 17:26], however, is the tone of them. There is none of the air of confrontation and challenge that marked the discourses of the Book of Signs (John, chapters 1:9 to 12:50). What accounts for the change in tone is that these discourses are addressed to the disciples—and thus to the Christian readers of the Gospel—to help them interpret the death and resurrection of Jesus.

We are to love others as Jesus loved us

Gospel: John 13:31–33a, 34–35
Love one another as I have loved you

Is this really the way, is this the frame of mind in which I live my normal day? Or rather, let me say, is this the way we—who dare to call ourselves Christians—live our normal days?