My Sisters and Brothers:
The “Peace Prayer,” usually attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, begins with the words “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.”
There is no doubt in my mind that the author of the prayer understood
very well that Jesus, our Risen Lord, is the source of all peace, and
that he generously offers it to each one of us!
Isn’t it true the
sins of men and women, and all kinds of other negative human behaviors,
are antithetical to peace! Taking this obvious reality into
consideration, we as Christians know Jesus saves us from our sins,
and that he is the source of our true peace! With this in mind, isn’t
it interesting that the first words of the Resurrected Jesus spoken to
the apostles in Jerusalem, and recounted by St. Luke in today’s Gospel
are “peace be with you” (see Luke 24:36).
These were the very words repeatedly spoken to the apostles by the same Jesus in last Sunday’s Gospel from St. John (see John 20:19-31).
While last week, we may have focused our reflection on the apostles’
fervent and faithful acceptance of Jesus as the Risen Christ, today we
give great thought to the salvation of all people through repentance and
forgiveness of sins–a message that has been preached for centuries and
to all nations by those who have embraced the Christian faith.
On
both of these Sundays, we have heard about a Jesus who first and
foremost offers “peace” in order to inspire and give strength
to his followers. Today we might summarize all of our Scripture
readings with just one sentence: “Through his suffering, death and resurrection, Jesus the Christ forgives us of our sins; he saves us and gives us peace!”
In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter proclaims: “Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away” (see Acts 3:19). In the First Letter of St. John we hear: “Jesus Christ . . . is expiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world” (see 1 John 2:1-2). Jesus proclaims in the Gospel today: “Peace be with you” and “repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, will be preached in my name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (see Luke 24:36 and 47).
My friends, as we continue to celebrate with Easter Joy, let us have confidence our Risen Jesus has accomplished his mission! He has
come into the world to forgive us of our sins, to make us whole, and to
give us a peace that never ends!
Therefore, may each one of us enthusiastically pray . . .
“Lord,
make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow
love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where
there is sadness, joy.
O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as
to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are
pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life. Amen.”
Praise God! Friar Timothy
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