Jesus is asking all of us as his disciples, "WHY ARE YOU TROUBLED?" ( Luke 24:38). Like many of us today, Jesus' disciples are confused. They do not understand what is going on. They have little hope for the future. They are told by several women about the empty tomb early that Easter Sunday morning. Then Peter had run to the tomb and also had found it empty. It is a long and painful day. They are all perplexed. What is going to happen to them? They are afraid that the Jews will arrest them and also crucify them! They locked themselves in a small "upper room" in Jerusalem.

Now two of the disciples have just joined them, returning from EMMAUS where the Risen Lord has appeared to them. At that very moment, Jesus himself appears to all of them. They are startled. They are terrified. Is he a ghost? Maybe they are afraid that Jesus, their beloved master and guide for three years, is going to condemn them harshly for not having followed him all the way to Calvary (only one of them, John, was there).

Jesus is asking all of us, "WHAT TROUBLES YOU? WHAT WORRIES YOU RIGHT NOW?" In so many ways, all of us are worried. All of us are troubled. None of us has found true PEACE. We are all looking for PEACE, but we are all struggling as we are looking for Peace in the wrong places. Peace can be found only with GOD and in GOD.

Saint Teresa of Avila, the great mystic who reformed the Carmelite order in Spain in the 16th century (more than 400 years ago), was truly inspired by God when she wrote this insightful poem, "LET NOTHING DISTURB YOU. All things pass away. GOD NEVER CHANGES. He who has God lacks nothing. GOD ALONE IS ENOUGH!" It seems so simple and so powerful! But how can we truly let nothing disturb us? The trouble we face is not coming from OTHERS. It is coming from WITHIN US, from our inner being, from the depths of our souls. I invite you to spend some time in reflecting on what troubles you today.

FIRST, for many of us, our worries, our troubles come from what is going on in the secular world, outside us, outside our families, outside our workplaces, or even outside our country. Some worry that World War III could happen any time: Russians troops being deployed in large numbers at the border with Ukraine, or mainland, communist Chinese looking for opportunities to invade Taiwan, escalating tensions between Israel and Iran, etc. but there is nothing we can do about it. It is outside our sphere of influence.

SECOND, for many of us, our worries, our troubles come from the degradation of moral values in our own country: fornication, cohabitation before marriage, increasing divorce rates, same-sex marriages (God created marriage for one man and one woman to procreate their own children), killing children while in the womb of their mothers (protection of the rights of women, but what about the rights of the child in the womb?), the so-called rights of transgenders (Pope Francis just re-emphasized that God creates us either as man or woman, and we have no right to change what God has created), increased abuse of minors by adults (whether verbal, physical, or sexual), growing addictions (money, work, gambling, alcohol, pornography, sex, drugs, power), and euthanasia (killing elderly so they can die in dignity)! Quite a long list! As Christians, we have to continue to proclaim the truth of the Gospel, but we have to be aware that individually, apart from constant prayer, there is little we can do to radically transform the cultural and moral environment that surrounds us. This continued deterioration parallels the increasing proportion of Americans who no longer believe in God, or when still believers no longer see the necessity of belonging to a Church.

THIRD, for all of us, our deep troubles and worries COME FROM WITHIN, not from outside us. This is the battle between good and evil that keeps going on within our own HEARTS! This is all about our own SINFULNESS! It is led by PRIDE, the MOTHER OF ALL VICES! Pride leads to the other six deadly sins: GREED, LUST, ENVY, GLUTTONY, ANGER/WRATH, and SLOTH, which in turn lead to all the other sins that the DEVIL promotes. With God's help, we can achieve major changes in our spiritual and moral life: we, Baptized Catholics, just have to DESIRE to REPENT, turn toward God, trust in HIS MERCY and CONVERT (a total change of heart). Once we have this DESIRE, we just have to return to the SACRAMENT OF CONFESSION/ RECONCILIATION and to let GOD TAKE OVER! We can then say with St Teresa of Avila, "GOD, LET NOTHING DISTURB ME. All things pass away... but YOU, GOD NEVER CHANGES. Having YOU, I lack nothing. YOU GOD ALONE , ARE ENOUGH!"

When you come to MASS on Sunday, leave your worries in your cars, and come prepared to MEET THE LORD. Offer your joys and your pains as part of the Sacrifice of the Mass. When receiving Jesus in the Eucharist, talk to HIM, " ONLY YOU LORD CAN GIVE ME PEACE...BE WITH ME WHENEVER I AM IN TROUBLE...TAKE AWAY MY WORRIES. HELP ME TO FIND PEACE WITH YOU AND IN YOU. HELP ME TO BE A PEACE-MAKER and HELP ME NOT BE A TROUBLE-MAKER to Others. All of us we want Peace! HELP Everyone to Seek and Find that Peace in YOU!"

One in Christ,

Fr. Alain