Christ’s Peace

April 26, 2016 Tuesday 5th Week of Easter 1st Reading: Acts 14:19–28Gospel: Jn14:27–31

Jesus said to his disciples, “Peace be with you; I give you my peace. Not as the world gives peace do I give it to you. Do not be troubled; do not be afraid. You heard me say: ‘I am going away, but I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. “I have told you this now before it takes place, so that when it does happen you may believe. It is very little what I may still tell you, for the ruler of this world is at hand, although there is nothing in me that he can claim. But see, the world must know that I love the Father and that I do what the Father has taught me to do.”

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE (Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)

Here’s a good story to lighten your day. Adam and Eve are no longer living in peace. Adam is fed up with Eve’s endless ranting. Wanting to have peace Adam prays in this fashion: “Lord, make me another woman; I still have several ribs, look!”

Many spouses think that getting rid of their partner is the way to peace. They are not always correct. More often than not, getting rid of the other merely takes one party to the other side of the same trouble. On that side, the oppressive effect can even be more intense. The real path to peace is the way of Jesus who said, “I give you my peace. Not as the world gives peace do I give it to you.”

“Peace has been understood in different ways through the years. Two ideas, however, predominate in Scriptures. The first is peace brought about by right relationship with God. But this requires forgiveness, reconciliation and unity. The second is “eschatological peace” – a final, full realization of God’s salvation when all creation will be made whole. This is what we intend of a beloved dead when we say, “rest in peace” (Komonchak, et al, eds.).

In the Old Testament, peace was seen from the perspective of relationship with God and therefore understood as built upon justice and fidelity to God’s law (Jeremiah 6:14; 8:10-12; Is. 28:18; Ezek 13:16). In the New Testament, Peace was seen as that gift brought to the world by the shedding of Christ’s Blood. Christ calls everyone to conversion so that everyone becomes bearer of peace through forgiveness and reconciliation (2 Cor 5:19-20). Under this perspective, God’s peace becomes visible through peoples’ lives when characterized by love and the willingness to forgive. But this requires change of heart.

Let work for peace, not by getting rid of the people we dislike but striving for a change of heart. —Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: [email protected].

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