Acts 14:19-28 / John 14:27-31
No one likes to go into a hostile situation in which there are violent people.
Neither would someone go back to that hostile situation in which violent people had harmed that person.
In the 1st reading, the people of the town turned against the apostles.
They stoned St. Paul and dragged him out of the town, thinking he was dead.
The disciples came crowding around him, but as they did so, he stood up, and of all things, he went back to that town.
We naturally dislike trouble or hardships. We rather run away from the fire than to run into it.
But as the 1st reading quoted Paul and Barnabas as saying: We all have to experience many hardships before we enter the kingdom of heaven.
In the gospel, Jesus tells us not to let our hearts be troubled or afraid.
He tells us that He will give us peace, a peace that the world cannot give.
Jesus is our Peace; He is the Prince of Peace.
With His peace in us, we will be able to overcome the troubles, the fears, the hostility and the violence of the world.