Word of the day

A reading from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles
Acts 19,1-8

While Apollos was in Corinth,
Paul traveled through the interior of the country
and down to Ephesus where he found some disciples.
He said to them,
"Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?"
They answered him,
"We have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."
He said, "How were you baptized?"
They replied, "With the baptism of John."
Paul then said, "John baptized with a baptism of repentance,
telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him,
that is, in Jesus."
When they heard this,
they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul laid his hands on them,
the Holy Spirit came upon them,
and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
Altogether there were about twelve men.

He entered the synagogue, and for three months debated boldly
with persuasive arguments about the Kingdom of God.

From the Gospel according to John
Jn 16,29-33

The disciples said to Jesus,
"Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech.
Now we realize that you know everything
and that you do not need to have anyone question you.
Because of this we believe that you came from God."
Jesus answered them, "Do you believe now?
Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived
when each of you will be scattered to his own home
and you will leave me alone.
But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
I have told you this so that you might have peace in me.
In the world you will have trouble,
but take courage, I have conquered the world."

“To endure” is more than just having patience, it means carrying on your shoulders, to bear the burden of tribulations. And even the Christian's life has moments like that. But Jesus tells us: “Have courage in that moment. I have overcome,  and you too will be victorious.” This first word enlightens us when facing the most difficult moments of life, those moments that also make us suffer (...) entrusting this difficult moment to the Lord, entrusting myself to the Lord, we bishops and priests entrusting our faithful, entrusting our families and our friends to the Lord and saying to the Lord: “Take care of these people, they are yours.” It's a prayer that we don't always make, the prayer of entrustment: “Lord I entrust this to you, take it forward.” It's a beautiful Christian prayer. It is the attitude of trust in the power of the Lord, and also in the tenderness of the Lord Who is Father […] Three words: tribulation, entrustment, and peace. In life we must go through tribulation, it is the law of life. But in those moments, let us entrust ourselves to the Lord […] asking Him to strengthen our faith and our hope, asking Him to give us the confidence to overcome tribulations because He has overcome the world, and gives us all His peace. (Homily Santa Marta, 5 May 2015)