Scattered Saints and
Unshakeable Peace
The apostles have that moment we've all experienced - suddenly everything clicks! "Now you are talking plainly and not using figures 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." You can almost hear the confidence in their voices, the satisfaction of finally "getting it." It's like when you solve a difficult puzzle or understand a concept that's been eluding you - there's this rush of intellectual satisfaction. But Jesus, with the gentle wisdom of someone who knows human nature better than we know ourselves, essentially responds, "Hold on there, friends. You think you believe now?" The Catholic tradition teaches us that faith isn't just intellectual assent - it's a lived reality that gets tested in the crucible of real life. The apostles are about to learn the difference between understanding Jesus with their heads and following Him with their whole lives.
Then comes the gentle but sobering reality check: "Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and will leave me alone." Ouch! Jesus isn't being cruel here - He's being lovingly honest about human weakness. Even these men, who walked with Him, witnessed miracles and heard His teachings directly, would soon be running for their lives. This should actually comfort us tremendously. If the apostles, the future pillars of the Church, struggled with fear and abandoned Jesus in His darkest hour, then our own moments of doubt and failure don't disqualify us from discipleship. We're in good company! The beauty of Catholic teaching on grace is that God doesn't love us because we're strong; He makes us strong because He loves us.
But here's where Jesus delivers the game-changing truth: "Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me." Even in humanity's darkest hour of betrayal and abandonment, the divine relationship remains unbroken. The Trinity doesn't fall apart when we fall apart. This is the bedrock of our faith - God's faithfulness doesn't depend on our performance. When Jesus says, "I have told you this so that you might have peace in me," He's offering something the world can't give and can't take away. This isn't the peace of having all our problems solved, but the peace of knowing we're held by Someone infinitely more reliable than our circumstances or even our own courage.
The final promise changes everything: "In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world." Notice Jesus doesn't promise to remove us from the world's troubles - He promises to be with us in them. This is the heart of following Jesus Christ: we don't get a life of ease, but we get a life of meaning, purpose, and unshakeable hope. Every challenge becomes an opportunity to experience God's grace, every weakness a place for His strength to shine through. We're not called to be spiritual superheroes who never struggle; we're called to be ordinary people who trust in an extraordinary God. And the beautiful thing? We don't have to wait until we're "strong enough" or "holy enough" to follow Jesus - He meets us exactly where we are, scattered and scared, and transforms us into the saints He's always known we could become.
©2025 James Dacey Jr.
