Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled
“For the Souls in Purgatory – Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord”
John 14:1-3
Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.
Grace Prayed For
Lord, let your peace settle into the places of trouble in our hearts — not as the absence of difficulty, but as a presence larger than our fear.
Reflection
The disciples’ hearts were about to be troubled beyond anything they had yet imagined. Within hours, they would watch their teacher arrested, condemned, and executed. And yet Jesus says: Do not let your hearts be troubled.
This is not denial. It is not the instruction of someone who doesn’t understand what is coming. It comes from someone who understands perfectly and who is offering, in advance, the anchor that will hold when the storm arrives.
‘In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.’ The Greek word is monai — rooms, abiding places, permanent dwellings. Not temporary shelters. Not cramped accommodations grudgingly assigned. In the Father’s house, there is room — generous, welcoming, prepared room — for every one of them.
And for every one of us.
The resurrection is the proof that Jesus’s words here were not wishful thinking. He went, he was glorified, and the place he promised to prepare is real. The Gospel that began with ‘the Word was with God’ ends with the disciples being taken to be where he is — dwelling in the same communion of love that has always defined the inner life of the Trinity.
For retreat groups, this passage is a gift for those carrying chronic anxiety, grief, or the fear of death — their own or a loved one’s. The troubled heart is acknowledged and spoken to directly. Jesus does not dismiss our anxiety or tell us to think more positively. He gives us something to put our faith in: a house with room, a place prepared, a Savior who will come back.
Let this language of home work on you today. What does it mean to you to be welcomed into a place prepared specifically for you?
You are not as precarious as you fear.
When Time Allows Reflect on the Posts in Library and Musings
Sharing
Jesus last words on Earth were to his disciples, can be found in Matthew Chap 28 when Jesus told his disciples, “Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Jesus calls all of us to share in his redemptive mission here on Earth. I would ask you to share this Scripture reflection with your family, your friends and your acquaintances, and then share it with a couple of individuals that you may may not be comfortable sharing with, keeping in mind always the words of Jesus, And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age
Author was assisted by AI in the drafting of this Post