From the Word of the Day

 

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give it to you.

(John 14, 27)  

How should we live this Word

 Peace is a gift that Jesus leaves us more than a good to be acquired with effort because the peace that He leaves us is not the world’s peace.  “Not as the world gives do I give it to you”.  The world gives a semblance of peace made up of well-being, of consumption and built in obsolescence, of fake security based on making money, of needs for comfort and assurance, of the possession of persons and things from which to squeeze out pleasure at any cost.  It is the world that Jesus said is under the evil one.  But this pleasure ‘sprouts in the morning and withers in the evening’.  It disappears like smoke in the wind!  In fact, its roots are tied to our ego.

 Instead, Jesus’ peace is rooted in the Paschal Mystery.  It is not an insurance policy against life’s misfortunes.  Rather, it is like a tree that points its branches upward.  It keeps us closely united to God in Jesus, in His death and resurrection.  It produces peace in the Spirit within our days.

 Today as I pause for silent contemplation, I will let Jesus’ words resound in me.  I will abandon myself to Him and tell Him from my heart:

 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.”  Give me your peace.  It is enough for me.

 The voice of Mahatma Ghandi, witness of non-violence

 Refusing to believe in a permanent peace means refusing to believe in the holiness of human nature.