Lesson from Fr. Paulus | Christ’s Peace Is Lasting

Today we are brought back to the night of the Last Supper. We take our places with the Twelve Apostles, gathered around the sacred table with Christ, Our Lord.

We listen to his words, which are both mysterious and glorious. It is Christ's last meal with his closest followers. He wants to leave them a parting gift. What is it? What does Christ want to bequeath to his Apostles at the Last Supper?

Peace. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you." And what does he mean by peace? Not what we usually think. Jesus said, "Not as the world gives do I give it to you."

Christ's peace is lasting. It is interior peace of heart, which overflows into peace in families, in communities, in entire nations.

It is the peace that comes from knowing without any doubt whatsoever that we are loved by him. It is the peace that comes from knowing without any doubt whatsoever that whenever we offend him, he will always be ready to forgive us.

It is the peace that comes from knowing without any doubt whatsoever that we have a purpose in life, a mission - the very mission that Christ himself has given us: to spread his Kingdom. As today's Psalm puts it, to "make his way known upon earth; among all nations, his salvation."

Only because Christ has given us this peace, by giving us faith in his love, mercy, and mission, he can command us: "Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid."

If our peace were based on anything else, for example popularity, wealth, comfort, or power, that peace would be unstable, because all those things are vulnerable to change. But Christ's peace isn't vulnerable, because it's based on his love, mercy, and mission, and those are everlasting.

Cardinal Van Thuan Converts His Guards

A few years ago, the Vietnamese Cardinal Joseph Xavier van Thuan [twahn] died in Rome, exiled from his homeland. Everyone who knew him during the last years of his life was impressed by his interior peace and joy.

He was someone who had found Christ's peace, the stability that comes from discovering and clinging to the deeper truths.

Before his exile, he was serving as Archbishop of Saigon. After the Vietnam War, when the communists took over both North and South Vietnam, he was arrested by the communist authorities.

He spent the next 13 years in prison, as the communists tried unsuccessfully to destroy the Catholic Church in that country. Nine of those years were spent in solitary confinement, in gruesome conditions and horrible privations. At first the authorities decided to have only two guards watch over the Archbishop, so as not to risk contaminating too many young soldiers with the Archbishop's Catholic ideas.

But after a month, Bishop van Thuan had made friends with both of them and taught them some Christian hymns and prayers. The officials were forced to rotate guards every week in order to avoid such embarrassing conversions.

But the rotation strategy backfired. The holy bishop radiated Christ's goodness so powerfully, even in the midst of his emotional and physical suffering, that he would win over his guards without even trying, sparking their curiosity and interest in his "secret" - that is, his faith.

In the end, they went back to assigning two permanent guards. It was better to lose two than twenty. That's the kind of interior strength and peace of mind that Christ wants to give us.

Sharing Christ's Peace

We need to be reminded that Christ's love, mercy, and mission can give us the interior peace we long for, that as our friendship with Christ grows, so will our experience of that peace. That's why this theme keeps coming up during the Easter season.

Even so, most of us probably don't experience this peace as much as we would like to. And yet, we do experience it.

When life's storms come, we know where to go. We know that Christ is here for us. We can turn to him in prayer. We can experience him in the Eucharist and in confession. We can run to his Mother, Mary, the Queen of Peace.

But so many people around us never experience this peace. They don't know where to go. They don't know that Christ's friendship is the root of peace. They have not tasted his love or mercy. They don't know that God created them for a mission.

If we who believe in Christ and have his friendship still find life so difficult, still struggle to experience the interior peace we are called to, imagine how much more difficult and turbulent it is for those who do not know Christ.

The good news is that we can help them. We can introduce them to Christ. Our prayers, words, example, and actions can bring them the message that Christ has brought to us.

Today, when Jesus comes to renew his commitment to us, let's renew our commitment to being messengers of his peace. After all, he's the one who told us: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." (Mt 5:9)