June 10: Peace

The final Easter celebration of the Church is what we celebrated on Sunday: the Feast of Pentecost. That fiftieth day of the Easter observance always propels us back into Ordinary Time, the longest liturgical season of the year.

It is worth remembering that Jesus entered that locked upper room (John 14) and effectively entered (anew) the hearts of His friends, the hearts “locked up” by doubt, confusion, and fear. He did so to give them one, final, and great gift.

The background for that generous gift-giving on the Lord’s part was that those disciples were the very people who had vanished when He needed them most, who had denied Him, and who ran away when there was trouble, leaving Him alone. Some Scripture scholars have cynically suggested that the disciples had locked the doors, not for fear of the Jews, but for fear that He might really come back, look them straight in the eye, and call them to account for their behavior. And then, suddenly, there He was! But He came with a gift, the gift of forgiveness, the only gift that can bring peace.

And now, Jesus stands among us day in and day out, offering us the same gift. He is constantly breathing His Spirit into us, not just upon us. He stands before us daily with His heart of forgiveness and mercy. He gives us the greatest of all gifts: His forgiveness, the only gift that can bring us true peace. As He stated during His public ministry, anyone who refuses to give that gift cannot receive it, and they will never know peace. Where peace is needed, forgiveness is needed more. As St. Pio said, "Where people of peace live, forgiveness will be found."