After his tomb had been found empty, Jesus came to the disciples bringing them peace, even though he had reason to be disappointed in them. They had lost their trust, they had given in to fear.
This still happens today, because many questions are based on the fear that takes hold of us. What if… a war comes upon us? …a new epidemic breaks out? The unknown can create paralysing fear. The disciples, like us today, needed peace.
Peace was also the first message Pope Leo XIV conveyed to the crowd on the evening of his election, asking that our hearts be inhabited by the peace of the risen Christ. The urgency of this peace challenges us not to be reluctant to call upon the Spirit of peace and not to close our eyes in the face of so much injustice.
Rather than fall prey to despondency, we should continue to hope in the power of God’s Spirit, drawing courage from the words of the Psalmist “Mercy and truth shall meet together, righteousness and peace shall embrace” (Ps 85:10).
The Jewish Talmud states that the four attributes mentioned in this verse of the Psalm – mercy, truth, righteousness and peace – are among the seven attributes that serve before the Throne of Glory (cf. Avot DeRabbi Natan 37:8), along with wisdom, justice and goodness. Any person who possesses these attributes knows God and serves him.
In the first homily of his pontificate, Pope Leo said: “With the light and the strength of the Holy Spirit, let us build a Church founded on God’s love, a sign of unity, a missionary Church that opens its arms to the world, proclaims the Word, allows itself to be made ‘restless’ by history, and becomes a leaven of harmony for humanity.”
May the transforming power of the peace of Pentecost empower us to overcome the greatest obstacles and live what Pope Leo so beautifully called in his homily “the hour of love!”
Painting by Sr Marie-Françoise Lin, NDS