Peace Be With You

In Scripture,  at the start of Easter (after the resurrection) we have Jesus appearing to His disciples.  Every time that he appears to the disciples, his words are always the same: “Peace be with you.”  Jesus wants us to experience His peace.  And, he always tells us to “Go, tell others that I have risen from the dead.”  In giving peace and also giving an assignment, a task to do, Jesus is somehow taking this group of his closest friends who have been scattered, lost, or in doubt after his death... and bringing them together.  He brings them together around the TRUTH OF HIS RESURRECTION.

Jesus wants each one of us to experience HIS PEACE, HIS PRESENCE, AND HIS PURPOSE.  As a people experiencing His peace, we will want to be in His presence and, like the disciples, we are commissioned to “Go forth and proclaim the Good News,” sharing His purpose.

Look back at all the events before and after the death of Jesus.  His own disciples, his friends, they were afraid.  They denied Him, they went into hiding, they even doubted that He had risen from the dead.  Yet, Jesus only had to say those simple words, “Peace be with you,” and they knew that everything was forgotten... everything was forgiven.  Everything was okay. We always have the opportunities to ask for forgiveness of our sins, by simply saying (praying), “Lord, I am a sinner, please forgive me. Help me.  Bring me back to your embrace.” Jesus will bless you and say, "Peace be with you, you are forgiven."

Remember the simple prayer from the Pulp Fiction meditation? (https://bit.ly/2Qd87xo)

"Heavenly Father, that’s all you had to say Lord."

Easter was not just a one-day event... We are still in the Easter Season… until we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost (50 days after the Resurrection of Jesus).  Because of the PEACE, PRESENCE, AND PURPOSE that Jesus offers to us, Easter is not finished… it is just beginning, and now, each one of us is part of the Easter story.

All of us are like the disciples because we need one another.  We need to witness expressions of faith that will strengthen our own faith.  SEE WHAT YOU BELIEVE AND BECOME WHAT YOU SEE. We must never forget that our coming together in prayer and as brothers in Christ is an act of faith where we can experience the peace of Jesus, his presence, and be reminded of his purpose… so that those around us will SEE JESUS in each of us.

Let us pray -

O my God, 
I am heartily sorry for having offended You, 
and I detest all my sins, 
because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell; 
but most of all because they offend You, my God, 
Who are all good and deserving of all my love. 
I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, 
to confess my sins, to do penance, 
and to amend my life.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

Amen.

Scripture - John 20:19-23

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

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