Deacon Steve's Homily - Sixth Week of Easter, cycle C - The peace that only Christ can give

As I reflected on today’s readings I thought about the world that we live in.
I thought about how our world seems to be in constant turmoil, dissension, and war.
I thought about what we all long for – and that is peace!
A few weeks ago the senseless bombings at the Boston Marathon took place.
Late last year the shootings at Sandy Hook ES occurred.
Innocent people lost their lives, and those that survived are now living with physical and mental scars.
It seems that we witness war, violence, and terrorism each and every day.
We ask ourselves ‘why’? We ask ourselves ‘where is the peace’?
I also thought about the everyday problems of life, the problems that we all experience:
Physical problems, financial problems, relationship problems to name a few.
We just want all of these problems to go away.
Did anyone attend the Matthew Kelly talk last month?
I loved the way he would make a statement and then ask ‘Yes’ or ‘Yes’?
And then the entire congregation would say a resounding ‘Yes’!
In the spirit of Matthew Kelly I say that all of us long for peace.  ‘Yes or Yes’?
Of course, the answer is ‘yes’ - we all long for peace.
In today’s Gospel we hear Jesus say:
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”
What is this peace that Christ gives and that we all long for?

What is this peace that he gives, which is different from the world’s peace?

I’d like to share this story that may help answer these questions.

   "It seems that one day an artist was commissioned by a wealthy man to paint something that would depict peace.  After a great deal of thought, the artist painted a beautiful country scene. There were green fields with cows standing in them, birds were flying in the blue sky and a lovely little village lay in a distant valley. The artist gave the picture to the man, but there was a look of disappointment on the patron's face.  The man said to the artist, "This isn't a picture of true peace.  It isn't right. Go back and try again.

   The artist went back to his studio, thought for several hours about peace, then went to his canvas and began to paint.  When he was finished, there on the canvas was a beautiful picture of a mother, holding a sleeping baby in her arms, smiling lovingly at the child. He thought, surely, this is true peace, and hurried to give the picture to the wealthy man. But again, the wealthy man refused the painting and asked the painter to try again.

   The artist returned again to his studio.  He was discouraged, he was tired and he was disappointed.  Anger swelled inside him, he felt the rejection of this wealthy man.  Again, he thought; he even prayed for inspiration to paint a picture of true peace.  Then, all of a sudden an idea came, he rushed to the canvas and began to paint as he had never painted before. When he finished, he hurried to the wealthy man.

   He gave the painting to the man.  He studied it carefully for several minutes.  The artist held his breath.  Then the wealthy man said, "Now this is a picture of true peace." He accepted the painting, paid the artist and everyone was happy.

   And what was this picture of true peace??  The picture showed a stormy sea pounding against a cliff.  The artist had captured the fury of the wind as it whipped black rain clouds which were laced with streaks of lightning.  The sea was roaring in turmoil, waves churning, the dark sky filled with the power of the furious thunderstorm.  And in the middle of the picture, under a cliff, the artist had painted a small bird, safe and dry in her nest snuggled safely in the rocks.  The bird was at peace in the midst of the storm that raged about her."

This is the picture of peace that Jesus gives. It’s not a worldly kind of peace:

   - the peace of a spot in nature - beautiful and serene
   - the peace of a mother and child - tender and gentle
   - the peace of an absence of conflict  - where there are no storms or violent waves

But rather a peace of knowing that in the midst of the storms of life there is a rock which can shelter us.

There’s a place where we can nurture and raise a new generation without fear.

There’s a power that can spread its wings over us and keep us safe.

That, my friends, is the peace that Christ talked about.

This week let’s be mindful that true peace comes from Jesus himself.

Let’s remember that when we stay close to Christ, we will have the peace of Christ in our hearts and in our lives.

In a few minutes as we continue our liturgy, after we say the Our Father, we’ll hear Fr. Vince pray these words:

“My peace I leave you, my peace I give you…”

And then we will offer each the sign of peace.

And a minute or two later we will all pray the Lamb of God:

“Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us, Have mercy on us, Grant us Peace.”

We pray these words and offer each other the sign of peace at every mass.

When we pray them, may we always remember the gift of peace that Jesus promised.

And may we never forget his words ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.’

Because when we stay close to Christ, we have nothing to fear; we will have true peace!