Immersed in Christ: Fifth Thursday of Easter: May 6, 2021

Hoping Gives the Fruit of Peace

Jesus promised Peace to all who live his divine Life:

Peace I give to you… not as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid (John 14:27).

If we don't experience Peace, we are not consciously living his divine life.

We often blame others for taking away our Peace. Mistake. What others ("the world") cannot give, others cannot take away. Our Peace does not rest on optimistic expectations, but on hope. Divine hope that, like faith and love, is from and in God alone. Hope in the Infinite, the All Powerful, whose Promise cannot fail.

What have we to fear? "If God is for us, who is against us? He did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us. Will he not with him give us everything else?" (Romans 8:31).

To "make assurance double sure," Jesus renews his promise to us visibly, physically, in every Eucharist: “This cup poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood" (Luke 22:20). We see Jesus offering himself for us daily on the altar, then entering into each one of us with his own Body and Blood in Communion. How can we doubt that he will indeed "deliver us from every evil?"

With such hope, how can we not have Peace?

Our mission is to give hope to the world through the Peace that reveals our hope. This is the "fruit of the Spirit."

To live in Peace, hope!