BRIDGPEORT—“How do we un-trouble our hearts?” Bishop Frank J. Caggiano asked in his homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter.
In the live-streamed Mass from the Catholic Center chapel Bishop Caggiano reflected on the Gospel of John (14: 1-2) in which Jesus comforts his disciples who are confused and uncertain. Thomas asks him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?”
Confessing that he is a “worrier,” the Bishop began his homily by nothing that the fear and uncertainty resulting from the pandemic have “caused many of us to have a troubled heart.”
“It is fair to say that given the terrible circumstances we are living, we are worried about the unknown, worried about employment and where the money will come from, worried about our health and our loved ones, worried about the elderly we love so dearly, and worried what the new normal will be.”
The Bishop said that even with the best of intentions we tend to get caught up in our own worries. We try to control things and have them our own way, but that only leads to more anxiety.
The Bishop said that the answer to soothing an un-troubled heart “is staring us right in the face.”
“Jesus says, I am the way, I am the path, I am the one who loves you more than you love yourself. I’m the one who has the answers. I can see the end of the journey while you cannot.
Jesus set the example, the Bishop said. “He did not occupy himself with his own desires and plans… It was all about trusting in the father.”
Emptying ourselves of our own concerns and being of service to others is a way to escape our own worries and do the will of the Lord, the Bishop said.
“The gospel encourages us to get out of ourselves. Jesus ‘s way was not to spend time on what I want, but what my neighbor needs. His entire ministry was directed to those around him,” the Bishop said, adding that he walked among the people and shared their lives.
“I would like to suggest that in times when we are consumed, when we are worried or anxious, the answer is to imitate Our Lord. To look into the faces of those around us, and busy ourselves with their needs and concerns.”
Jesus invites us to look into the faces of the people who share our lives, he said.
“Let’s ’s look at them right now and see in them the invitation of Christ, to give ourselves to them, and perhaps that’s the way to have an un-troubled heart.”
To join in the Bishop’s Sunday Mass, live-streamed weekly, click this link or visit the YouTube Mass Playlist.
