Lesson from Fr. Paulus |The Peace of the Resurrected Christ Is What We Need

Jesus' favorite word after his resurrection is "peace." It is almost always the first word on his lips when he appears to his apostles, as in the passage we just listened to: "Peace be with you."

Every time we celebrate Mass, we hear these same words, spoken to us in the here-and-now of our lives, right before we receive the living, resurrected body and blood of our Lord in Holy Communion: "Lord Jesus Christ," the priest says, "you said to your apostles: I leave you peace, my peace I give you."

He didn't give this peace before his resurrection, but afterwards he does give it, and he gives it because we need it. Christ's peace is the antidote to most endemic diseases of modern, secular society: stress, depression, and anxiety.

We have all been affected by those diseases. As our friendship with the resurrected Lord grows deeper, we are gradually healed of those diseases, because he brings us his three-fold peace.

First, peace for our mind. When we look at his wounds, which he still bears in his glorified body, we know for certain that his forgiveness is everlasting; once he forgives our sins, we are truly forgiven; our conscience can be at rest.

Second, peace for our heart. When we see the spike marks in his hands and feet, we know for certain that we are loved with an undying, unconditional, personal, determined love - Christ's love.

Third, peace for our soul. Christ is alive, and he is ruling and expanding an everlasting Kingdom, and he has invited each one of us to help him do that by building up the Church. We have work to do that matters, that is worthwhile, that will satisfy our thirst for meaning.

The peace of the resurrected Christ is what we really need. The Psalmist put it well: "As soon as I lie down, I fall peacefully asleep, for you alone, O LORD, bring security to my dwelling.

Removing the Main Obstacle to Peace

We all want to experience this peace more deeply - peace of mind, heart, and soul. And Christ wants the same thing - that's why he suffered, died, and rose.

But if that's so, why do we still find ourselves so easily overrun by stress, anxiety, and discouragement? Many obstacles can inhibit the flow of Christ's peace in our lives.

The most obvious one is sin. Sometimes we fall into sin out of weakness. Those falls are easy to confess and repent of.

But other times we allow subtle habits of sin to take root in our lives. For example, we refuse to accept some part of Church teaching on faith or morals - like Christ's real presence in the Eucharist, abortion, or gay marriage.

Sure, we find plenty of reasons to justify this resistance - all the arguments we hear on the news, for instance. But at heart, to reject official Church teaching on these issues (which we find in the Catechism), is to reject Christ's saving truth. It's like telling God that we trust him a little bit, in some things, but we trust social media more in other things.

Subtle habits of sin can also take other forms: like slacking off in our life responsibilities - just doing enough to get by, but not really giving our best; or wasting inordinate amounts of time on hobbies, entertainment, or gossip.

Sinful habits can also take not-so-subtle forms, as financial corruption and pornography statistics make clear.

If we are not experiencing the peace of Christ's resurrected life a little bit more each season, maybe we need to do some spring cleaning in our souls.

For that, the best disinfectant is confession. As Christ renews his hope in us during this Mass, let's renew our hope in him too, and ask for the grace to receive his peace.