Easter Fifth Week Tuesday May 20

Yesterday Paul and Barnabas were looked upon as gods by the people of Lystra, who prepared to offer them sacrifices for curing a crippled man. Today they are attacked, stoned, and Paul is left for dead outside the city. What a difference a day makes!

Paul remains undaunted and picks himself up and goes back into the city. On the following day he left with Barnabas for Derbe. There is no discouragement in Paul's behavior. He visits Derbe, and then once again he goes back to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch where he had been ill-treated by some-though most were eager to hear the Good News-and continues his evangelization. They strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying, "It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God." Paul and Barnabas expected challenges.

This is a good example for us. We cannot let sadness overtake us and cause us to give up or be discouraged. Sadness is a temptation, just like any other temptation, and we have to reject it. When we dwell on things that make us sad, we become sad, and then we dwell even more on sad things and become even more sorrowful. This leaves us open to the devil's assaults because we look for ways to overcome our sadness by seeking false pleasures, or we rebel at our misery and do things in defiance of God. Sadness leads us into other sins if we do not flee from it. St. Josemaria Escriva writes in The Forge: "Don't give way to sadness when it feels as if the Lord has given up on you. Seek him with greater determination. He who is Love does not leave you on your own. Be convinced that "he has left you on your own" our of Love, so that you may see clearly in your life what is his and what is yours." (No. 250)

How logical! When we feel as if we are alone (though we are never alone), then we should "seek him with greater determination," rather than give up. How positively sensible, even though it may not be what occurs to us naturally when we are besieged by temptations to dwell on our misfortunes.

I am not talking about clinical depression, or about the normal sorrow or sadness when a loved one is sick or has died. Even in those sad moments, a Christian feels a deeper joy and peace. Jesus tells the disciples in today's Gospel: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you." The abiding peace of Christ comes from a joy in knowing that we have been saved through the many hardships he suffered so that we enter the Kingdom of God. Let us go to Mary. In the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary we pray to her, Cause of our joy. She experiences the joy, and the sorrow, of being the Mother of God and, in doing so, becomes the cause of our joy.

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