Peace Be with You
Brethren, Jesus after appearing to various groups of people, we see him today appearing to his disciples in the room they were hiding and greeted them "Peace be with You." They were all astonished and thought they were seeing a ghost, but Jesus proved by showing himself, the wounds, the flesh and by eating with them so that they may come to believe. Why did Jesus really have to appear to different groups of people and do everything to prove that he is alive with his body and soul?
We have to remember that even his Apostles did not believe as such in what he was teaching them about his death and resurrection and how he was going to save people from their sins. They were perhaps, as other Jews were, expecting a political messiah who would free them from political oppression. In fact, all their hopes were shuttered seeing Jesus die on the Cross, and such experience could not even allow them to think of what he told them that he would rise on the third day. Jesus had then to appear to them after resurrection not only to show them his physical body as a proof of his resurrection, but also to commission them to continue the mission which Jesus himself had started, that is, the good news, and the preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sins, in his name. This was to be done with the help of the Holy Spirit which Jesus had breathed on them or had to send to them. That is the power we see Peter and John using to heal the lame man in yesterday's and today's first reading.
Jerome (347-420 AD), an early church bible scholar, comments: "As he showed them real hands and a real side, he really ate with his disciples; really walked with Cleophas; conversed with men with a real tongue; really reclined at supper; with real hands took bread, blessed and broke it, and was offering it to them...Do not put the power of the Lord on the level with the tricks of magicians, so that he may appear to have been what he was not, and may be thought to have eaten without teeth, walked without feet, broken bread without hands, spoken without a tongue, and showed a side which had no ribs." (From a letter to Pammachius against John of Jerusalem 34). The Lord was real and had really resurrected.
It was indeed, an "aha moment" for the apostles and the disciples. The Gospel tells us that Jesus “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. He reminded them of something they had apparently forgotten that long before he was crucified, he had told them that it would happen. He had foretold it over and over again. It must have come as an “aha moment” to the disciples. Into their minds, which had been so full of doubt and disbelief, came the memories of those moments on the road, in towns throughout Israel, when again and again Jesus had said, “The Son of Man will be killed, and on the third day rise again.” They remembered the arguments they had about it, the feeling of confusion, even the angry rejection of such prophecies. Now they saw that the suffering was all part of his plan. And they also realized that each of them was called to witness to what they had experienced. Our Lord also grants us insight when we pray with the Scriptures. Our “aha moments” draw us closer to Christ and fill our hearts with gratitude. As our gratitude and love grow, they overflow, and we become his enthusiastic witnesses.
Sometimes in our life, we also become hesitant to believe in the resurrection, or to believe in the Mysteries that God invites us to because of being overwhelmed by our daily experiences. This does us no good but shatters our spiritual growth. It makes us stuck in our old ways of sin and we cannot see the light ahead of us. It needs a radical turn to see that light. Jesus Christ is always inviting us daily to look at his victory over death and the evil, giving us hope and assurance that we are victors with him. No need of hesitancy but to believe in him the risen one for he is with us.
The “greeting of Peace” was not only for his disciples but for us all. The gift of resurrection he gives is peace, both peace of mind and of the body. He gives them peace to calm down their minds which were filled with a lot of thoughts of his crucifixion and the experiences they had undergone. In the same way, it was peace of the body, to live well again with one another and the whole world. It's there that he commissions them by calling them "witnesses" so that they carry this peace to all, an instrument of peace.
This same greeting is to us. The Risen Lord is giving us peace, the peace of mind not to fear anything, any situations, and whatever kills the body, for we are victors with him. This is the peace we need in the present world full of chaos from every corner because when we are at peace, we can easily conquer it. He also invites us to live in peace with one another and also share this peace with one another. Invite others to live in peace and also create peace where you are in the name of Jesus Christ. One way is by preaching forgiveness and reconciliation so that all may come to believe in the Risen Christ as Peter is preaching in the first Reading.
Reflect today on how you have created peace, how you have been an instrument of peace, how have you lived in peace with yourself and others and how do you correct and on how you have responded to those who destroy the peace the Lord gives. How have you been a witness of the risen Christ in both word and deed.
Let us Pray.
That the Lord may make us the witnesses of his resurrection and in witnessing him to make us the instruments of peace to his people as St Francis prayed. May he always be with us at all times and may you be blessed forever. Amen
Be blessed.
Today: Seventh Day of Divine Mercy Novena
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