John’s Gospel contains
the words of Jesus that are echoed in every Mass, “Peace I leave you; my peace
I give to you. Not as the world gives do
I give it to you.”
We all desire
peace in our lives, peace in our families, peace in our communities, peace in
our work and peace among peoples and nations, but is Jesus’ gift of peace to us
different from the peace we find in the world?
How do we define
peace? Is it an absence of conflict, an
absence of war, an absence of hate, jealousy and fear?
Man’s peace always
seems to be a negotiated peace; a détente – which is defined as a relaxation of
strained relations. It is a peace that
relies on the promises of good behavior among opposing parties; parties with
conflicting interests. It is an absence
of conflict that prevails with a caveat – it is a peace with the Sword of
Damocles hanging over it. It is a peace held
together by threat of consequence for not keeping the peace.
In man’s peace
we live in fear – fear of the slightest imbalance of power that can shatter the
peace. We live in fear that ever
changing conditions or needs - will throw our world into chaos – destroying man’s
peace – plunging us into disharmony and disorder; threatening our safety and
well-being.
This is not the
peace of Christ, the peace of God’s Kingdom.
Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of love and
justice. The peace of Christ is not the
absence of discord, but the presence of a living love: a love that puts the
needs of others ahead of our own. It is
a love that opens our hearts to the giving of ourselves for the other. It is a peace of sacrifice – a peace that
brings justice into our lives with one another.
Like Jesus, we
live in peace when we surrender ourselves to God’s love; emptying ourselves of
all that keeps us from loving the other.
Our peace and our love for the other is the same love we have for
ourselves, the love Jesus has for each one of us.
We are measured
by our love for the other, by the peace we give to the other, by the justice
that reigns in our hearts for the other.
This peace, love and justice are not abstract concepts, hypothetical ideas
or fanciful theories, but life giving practices.
We are called to
live in the peace of Christ, live with the love of the Father and bring God’s
justice into the world. This is the
measure of us – we who are called Christians – by these things - we are known
as followers of the Way.
God knows and
understands us completely. He knows this
is a difficult, - but not impossible - task for his children: to live in peace
and love and justice with one another.
Jesus promises us that the Father will send His Spirit to help and guide
us. His Spirit is a reminder and a teacher
of the words Jesus spoke to us, the words of the Father – the words of love, peace
and justice. These are words we hear - that
bring us into love, the love of Christ, the love of the Father: the words that
bring us into the peace of God’s kingdom.
These are the words of Life.
Any other words
we hear – words that fail to speak of God’s unconditional love - are not the
words of Jesus. Words used to justify any
actions that fail to love, - that fail to give peace, - that fail to bring
justice - are not words of love – are not words of life. Words that diminish the other, that bring
harm to the other, are words empty of love, peace or justice. These are the words of the evil one – the one
who would rob us of God’s love; separating us from His kingdom.
Sadly, these are
the words we hear too often in the world - words that keep us from loving with
the love of Jesus and living in peace with all our brothers and sisters –
-
words of fear,
-
words of suspicion,
-
words of doubt
-
words of jealousy
-
words of hate,
words that lead
us away from the love we are called to have for one another.
Jesus gives us
his peace and speaks to us only the words we need to hear, - words of peace, love,
justice and life. His is the voice of the Good Shepherd – leading his flock
into the peace of God’s Kingdom where we will live forever and ever.
~Amen
Peace,
Deacon Don Ron
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