peace - secure in Jesus: 5th wk easter tuesday st. joseph

Whenever the risen Christ appears to his disciples he greets them with the greeting Peace.   We all want peace.  We always pray for peace – peace in the world, peace in our country, peace in our family, even peace of mind.  But what is peace, what is this peace which Jesus gives?  What is this peace which is unlike t

he peace which the world gives?

Two things.  First, the peace of Jesus is not something merely external.  The peace of the world is the absence of conflict, the absence of war. But the peace of Jesus is beyond that. In fact there can be peace even in times of conflicts and in times of war.  This is the paradox of the peace of Jesus.  It can exist even in turmoil. 

The peace of Jesus is first and foremost an inner peace.  It comes from the conviction that God is with me and is in me, that I am in the right place, that I am secure in his love and mercy and in his care.  How many of us can say that?

If you notice Jesus assures his disciples that even his going away from them, even when he withdraws his physical presence from them, even that could not take away his peace.

You know, from time to time trouble comes to us.  Many times, it does not just rain, it really pours, indi bala, nagasampaw-sampaw nga mga problema.  And many times, because of these we become anxious, we even feel irritated and prone to outburst of anger.  But when we have the peace of Jesus, problems may still come, but we can choose to remain calm, we can remain trusting, we will remain at peace.  I read an article about the martyrs in Japan, in Nagasaki, that while they were imprisoned, while they were brought to the place of martyrdom, they would sing.  Yes, they would sing.  Why? because they have the peace of Jesus, and peace is internal, it is knowing, believing that you are in the right place, doing the right thing, secure in God, secure in his presence.

Second, the peace of Jesus is again not the peace of the world, it is not the absence of war but the recognition of the true dignity of every human person. When we mistreat people, when we do not recognize our equality before God, when we do not give the respect that is due to every person, when we do not treat each other justly, then we also lose the peace of Jesus.  Again peace starts as an internal disposition – how I look at God, how I look at myself, how I look at and treat others.  Today is memorial of St. Joseph the Worker.  Today is also labor day.  In Jesus it is no longer just an employer – employee relationship, it is no longer boss and workers.  So, who are we to one another?

St. Paul asked Onesimus, a slave, to return to his master Philemon from whom he ran away.  Paul sent a letter to Philemon telling him that he is returning Onesimus and that he should be treated, “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother, beloved especially to me, but even more so to you, as a man and in the Lord.”  Recognizing, therefore, each one’s dignity, which is the source of our peace in the Lord, is to treat each other as a brother in the Lord, a sister in the Lord.