In Jesus, There is Peace

Nowadays, there is a lot of restlessness in our hearts and our minds deal frequently with heavy concerns. Hence, as believers, we look toward heaven and sigh as if to tell the Lord that we are placing ourselves and our loved ones ever more firmly in his hands. Aware of our predicament, Mother Church dares to offer us the picture of her splendor and glory.

The angel took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. (Rev 21:10)

The Church knows that a part of her is suffering intense pain; that it is persecuted; that it is standing on the edge of an abyss. The Church feels that for the part of her living on this earth, hope might fade. We are that part of the suffering Church! Therefore, we are the Church who is invited to contemplate her future of glory as described by our reading from the book of Revelation. (21: 2-3, 5, 6, 8)

However, while in the past raising our eyes to heaven and our sighing might have been sufficient to renew our hope, we might now need more. We need to focus on a fundamental detail that we might have overlooked thus far.

I saw no temple in the city for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb. (Rev 21:22)

Do you understand? Where is God? Where is the Lamb? 

Everywhere! 

God is everywhere, but in a very special, unique way God is his “New Temple. We believers are the living stones of the New Temple and of the Lamb. We host God in our hearts. This is the astonishing good news that Holy Mother Church offers us on this Sixth Sunday of Easter.

Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. (John 14:23)

Here is the secret which can sustain us through difficult times and drive us forward amid extreme trials and sorrows. It is not necessary to look up to heaven, to sigh, to clinch our fists, to put off any rejoicing and move on. Now, it must be sufficient to look inside our heart. There we will find the Father, Jesus (the Lamb), there we will find the Advocate, the Holy Spirit.

However, you could most certainly object: “All this is just grand, and it is of great comfort to know that God dwells in our hearts, but there are so many heart-wrenching events, so worrisome issues that we can be easily swept away by what is happening to us and all around us.“ Thus, we lose sight and awareness of God’s presence in us and around us.

Hence, how do we keep alive the thought of God’s presence that brings us comfort and courage? Jesus gives us two suggestions: 1) Strive to love him as best we can and 2) To keep his Word.

God never expects of us a perfect love. He would be pleased with a sincere love that is docile to his insights and willing to cooperate with his grace.

Then there is the Word, his Word. It is crucial that we push aside or put off a few chores every morning, maybe on our way to work, as we eat breakfast, to read or to recall a Gospel passage that we like, or we are intrigued by. We should impress it on our mind, and we should return to dwell on those images, on those words throughout the day, especially whenever we feel anguished and anxious. We should also find other ways to remember the divine Guest in us. Truth be told, I am so certain of Jesus’ unfailing love that, surely, he will give us numerous signs and reminders to bring us constant comfort throughout each day.

The outcome of all this will be “FREEDOM.” Yes, freedom from anguish, from fear, from exhausting preoccupations because we will be always convinced that our life is completely safe in the Lord’s hands. And, little by little, this freedom will bring about the Lord’s peace.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. (John 14:27)

Here, my dear brothers and sisters, is my wish for all of us: discovering God in his “New Temple” so that our hearts may never be troubled again and we may never be afraid in the future. The peace that the Risen Christ offers as soon as he irrupts into our miserable mess is the same peace that was present when God saw that all he had created in the very beginning was very good.

Peace is Creation enjoying fullness, harmony, order, perfection, and pristine innocence. In other words: the peace given us by Christ is a world without sin! We already begin to realize that as soon as we let Christ Jesus into our frightened and messy life, Life begins to blossom again.