|
Peace be with you! Peace is the fruit of Christ’s Resurrection.
"Peace" is His greeting to His disciples. "Peace"
is the greeting Paul uses in every one of his letters. Peace
is the message we are sent to announce to the world. And
peace is the promise that Pentecost proclaims.
Peace is not just the absence of combat. There is not true
peace in the home just because spouses are not actually
fighting. There is not true peace in the city just because
no riots have broken out. There is not true peace between
nations just because no one is going to war. There is not
true peace in schools or worksites just because no one is
actively undermining another. Peace is unity of mind and
heart and will. True peace is what Jesus came to establish
on earth.
The peace of Christ is a peace that nothing in this world
can give. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit uniting all
the peoples of the world in truth and in love; in mutual
understanding and acceptance; in one common commit-ment
to the good of all, without exception, as God is committed
to the good of all. The peace of Christ is the peace we
strive to establish in family and social life, in business
and politics, between ourselves and other individuals. It
can only be established as Christ established it: through
our dying and rising again.
To die for peace means to die to all that divides us from
one another: to die to selfish-ness through self-sacrificing
love; to die to past hurts through forgiveness; to die to
prejudices through openness, and to our personal opinions
through humility; to die to our preferences and to the customs
we grew up with through a willingness to change; to die
to our ethnic narrowness through a new vision of the human
race. To follow Jesus along the way of peace we must be
willing to "turn our back on father and mother;"
to renounce any particular, enclosing loyalty which limits
our loyalty to God and to the whole human family. We are
one people now; not "one nation under God," but
one people, one family under God which embraces all na-tions,
all peoples, all cultures. We can be one with all because
we accept no dividing lines; we have died to all that divides
us.
This peace is not just a gift; it is a pro-cess: something
to work at, a goal to which we dedicate ourselves. To establish
this peace we have all been given gifts of ministry through
the gift of the Holy Spirit poured out in our hearts. When
Jesus says, "Peace be with you!" that peace is
the presence of the Spirit within us. And the Spirit of
Jesus is an active Spirit, an empowering and impelling Spirit
overflowing with gifts of ministry which make us, not just
the beneficiaries of peace, but the bearers of Christ’s
peace to the world. We do not just re-ceive peace as a gift;
we accept it as a mission.
There are different gifts but the same Spirit; different
ministries, but they are all in the service of the same
Lord, directed to the same goal of establishing His Kingdom.
There are different achievements, but their source is the
same God working and bearing fruit through all of us. Even
in the diversity of our gifts and ministries we are united
through the one purpose, the one power, the one presence
in us all.
The miracle of tongues at Pentecost reversed the Tower of
Babel, where pride caused such conflicts that the false
peace of separation became the only means to survival. Separation
breeds different mindsets, distorts communication, destroys
peace. Surrender to the Spirit restores communication by
making us sharers in a common history "in Christ"
and providing us with a common vision, purpose and language.
It empowers us to unite the world in love, send-ing us to
proclaim peace with tongues of fire
PRAYER
TO SAY DAILY: Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your apostles,
"Peace I leave to you, my peace I give to you."
Look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church, and
grant us the peace and unity of your kingdom, where you
live for ever and ever. Amen
|
HEARING THIS WEEK'S GOSPELS
Monday
Tuesday: Mark 12:13-17: Jesus said, "Repay
to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what
belongs to God." What loyalties in my life
cause conflict with my loyalty to God? Do I ever
hurt some people out of loyalty to others?
Wednesday: Mark 12:18-27: Jesus said to them,
"Are you not misled because you do not know
the scriptures or the power of God?" Can I
think of any mistakes I made in the past because
I didn’t keep God’s power in mind? Or
because I just didn’t think about what is in
Scripture? What might be distorted in my attitudes
or decisions today for the same reason?
Thursday: Mark 12:28-34: Jesus said, "The
greatest commandment is: ‘You shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart... soul... mind...
strength.’ The second is: ‘You shall love
your neighbor as yourself.’ " How can
I build peace in myself and with those around me
by keeping this command-ment?
Friday: Mark 12:35-37: Jesus said, "David
himself calls [the Messiah] ‘lord’; so
how is he his son?" How do I think of Je-sus?
What is He for me?
Saturday: Mark 12:38-44: "Amen, I say
to you, this poor widow put in more than all the
other contributors to the treasury. For they have
all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she,
from her poverty, has con-tributed all she had."
Do I ever hold back from offering my service, my
help, because I think I have "nothing to offer"?
IDEAS FOR "EASTER LIVING
As Christian: Whenever anything disturbs
your peace, stop for a moment and remember that
Jesus dwells in your heart: as helper, as guide,
as friend. Fear is the enemy of peace. Trust in
God is the foundation of peace.
As Disciple: Read Scripture every day this
week, asking specifically how what Jesus teaches
can bring about peace and unity in your home, at
work, in the city and world.
As Prophet: Look carefully to see if anything
you do (or your group does) expresses an attitude
of being different or divided from other people.
Decide on some act you can do that will positively
express unity.
As Priest: Make a list of five people who
are hurting in some way. Do one thing this week
just to show love to each of them.
As King: Divide a piece of paper into two
columns. Write "Us" at the top of one
column and "Them" at the top of the other.
List the people or groups you think of as "us"
and "them." Think of one thing you can
do to help yourself and those you think of as "us"
to begin to think of "them" as "us"
too.
|
