Peace is the first gift of the Risen Lord.
Peace be with you,” were the first words he spoke to the apostles when he showed himself to them in the Upper Room on that first Easter day. “Peace be with you,” he repeated, as he breathed on them and poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins.
Sin deprives us of peace. It leaves us with a troubled conscience – or worse, a dulled and deadened conscience. But Jesus breathes life back into us, with the full awareness of what has taken place, but now in the light of his mercy. He is our peace.
After the crucifixion, the apostles made their way back to the Upper Room, where Jesus had given them the gift of Himself in the form of bread and wine just a few days before. They went back to the place where they had been with him, where he had given them a share in his own saving mission. “Do this in memory of me.”
But now they were filled with confusion, shame and fear. How could they have turned so quickly against their friend and teacher? How could he have let this all happen? What would happen to them next?
In that very place, though the doors and windows were locked, Jesus showed himself to his apostles. “Peace be with you.” Seeing Him, they were filled not with regret and remorse, but with joy. They were overjoyed upon seeing Him – his pierced hands and feet and side. He did not show them his wounds to say “Look at what you did to me…” On the contrary, Jesus showed them his hands and feet and side as if to say “See what I have done for you.” His victory over sin and death is our peace.
At every Mass, just before Holy Communion, we exchange a sign of peace. This is not a moment to socialize with our friends and neighbors. Consider that the risen Lord Jesus makes his offer of peace visible to you through your neighbor, who shares in his new life through Baptism. Likewise, you are called to share the peace you have received from Him with your neighbor. “Peace be with you.” The Risen Lord Jesus speaks these words now through our lips, through our eyes, through our embrace.
May you know the presence and power of the Risen Lord in these Easter days. And made new through the grace of Baptism, strengthened by the gift of the Spirit through Confirmation, nourished by His living and glorious Body and Blood in the Eucharist, may we bring his peace into our homes and our world, because he has breathed his peace into our hearts.
-Fr. Tom
