Sunday, April 27, 2014

2nd Easter 2014, Peace with You


2nd Easter
John 20: 19-29

On the evening of the first day after the Sabbath, the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the authorities. Jesus came and stood in their midst and said,

“Peace be with you!”

And while he said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
Full of joy the disciples recognized the Lord. And again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”
And when he said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive Holy Spirit through which the world will receive healing. From now on you shall work in human destinies with spiritual power, so that they shall have the strength to wrest themselves free from the load of sin, and at the same time to bear the consequences of their offences.”
Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not there with them when Jesus came. Later the disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”
Luca Signorelli
But he replied, “If I do not see in his hand the marks of the nails, and do not put my finger in the place where the nails were, and place my hand in his side, I cannot believe it.”
Eight days later, the disciples were again gathered in the inner room and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
Then he said to Thomas, “Stretch out your finger and see my hands, and stretch out your hand and put it into my side. Be not rigid in your heart, but rather feel and trust in my power in your heart.”
Then Thomas said to him, “You are the Lord of my soul; you are the God whom I serve.”
And Jesus said to him, “Have you found my power in yourself because you have seen me? Blessed are those who find my power in their hearts, even when their eye does not yet see me.”

2nd Easter
April 27, 2014
John 20: 19 – 29

The disciples had locked themselves in out of fear. We could imagine their souls in a state of agitation. Even though some have reported seeing Christ Risen, the shock waves of the previous week are still reverberating. Everything that happened, the physical earthquakes, the torture and execution of their Beloved, his rising from the dead, it is all so stupefying.

Then He appears. He brings them the gift of Himself; and with that gift he brings them another, the gift of calm. He brings tranquility, serenity. The creative Word of God speaks peace into their hearts. He breathes the love of His healing Spirit into them. Look, He says, here are my wounds. I even died, but I am still radiantly and joyfully alive.

Our emotions can signal important information to us. Danger may be near; we may need to take action. But by His own actions, Christ indicates that we are nonetheless to move fairly quickly into a state of peace, of balance, of equanimity. As He says, lingering in agitation will not help us

to work in human destinies with spiritual power, so that they shall have the strength to wrest themselves free from the load of sin, and at the same time to bear the consequences of their offences.[1]

Christ would have us work calmly, in peace and in love, from the center of our being. And whether we see Christ or not, we can hear Him say to us, in every Act of Consecration of Man: ‘My Peace can be with you because I give it to you.’ The healing breath of His spirit of peace is available for us to inhale always. We can always ask Him: make me a channel of Your peace. For as
Fra Giovanni said in the 16th century:
No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today.  Take heaven!
No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present little instant.
Take peace! The gloom of the world is but a shadow.  Behind it, yet within





[1] John 20:23
[2] ~ Fra Giovanni ~ Written on Christmas Eve, 1513

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