True Peace

Homily for Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Easter

History is full of great farewell addresses; from George Washington’s printed farewell address announcing he would not seek a third term to Lou Gehrig’s “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth” speech, to name but a few.  Farewell speeches often crystalize the moment and put a focus on the here and now as well as a glimpse into the future.  But the greatest farewell address of all time was given two millennia ago by Jesus.  In his farewell address at the Last Supper before his forthcoming betrayal by Judas, Jesus provides us with two of the most comforting thoughts about the here and now and about our future that are found in the Bible.

The first is in the phrase, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.” The peace that Christ gives us is not peace of mind, peace and quiet, to rest in peace or keeps the peace.  It is a much deeper kind of peace.  For the peace Jesus gave his disciples and likewise to each of us was the peace that passes all understanding – a peace that allows us to conquer all of our fears worries and anguish because we know that God’s love is with us always.  This kind of peace helps us to know that the hand of God is constantly on our shoulder - helping us, guiding us and supporting us whenever we feel the need to call upon him.  In times of stress, tension and turmoil, call to mind the promise of his presence which is his peace.

Equally as powerful are the words, “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, I am going away and I will come back to you.” This was Jesus’s promise made during the Last Supper to reassure his disciples, to give them a glimpse of his future and theirs, that even though he was about to be crucified he would not be forsaking them and he would return. There are so many things that attempt to trouble us or to raise fears in our minds. We become afraid in the face of storms, political conflict, violence, illness, disability, and oh so many other things. The Gospel tells us that we should not fear those things that can take our lives because we know that we are already the beneficiaries of a great promise, the promise of eternal glory.

The Eucharist stands as a reminder of that promise, for in the Eucharist we experience a foretaste of that promise of eternal glory as we participate in this most holy banquet. The hectic world around us cannot do anything to disturb this promise, the very presence of Jesus in our midst.