The final wishes or words of a loved one near death have a
way of remaining with us. As a priest, I
can think of many occasions when I have had the privilege of being with
parishioners and/ or family members as they witness a loved one prepare to go
home to God. The Sacrament of the
Anointing of the Sick is a most beautiful encounter of our healing God and one
who is very sick.
Powerful words between the dying and the living are so often
exchanged at moments like this. I can think of a parishioner whose last words
to his wife were: “I love you.” His last words to me were: “I am ready to go home to God.” These beautiful last words of this
parishioner are seared in my memory.
The Gospel today are the last words of Jesus as he spoke to
his disciples at the Last Supper on the night before he died. This is Jesus’ going away conversation with
his disciples. Listen again to the last
words of Jesus to His disciples: “The
Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace, I leave with you; my peace I give to
you.”
Have you ever thought about the gift you would pass to your
loved ones? Many of us have a will in
which we carefully think what to do with your assets after your death, or are
you going to leave it up to Uncle Sam to dispose of your possessions. It goes without saying that it is a good idea
to have a will. But when we think about
a will, we usually think about our material assets and who gets what. Today’s Gospel is taken from the last will
and testament of Jesus in His conversation with his apostles.
The farewell gift of Jesus was a not a bequest of his
earthly goods. It was a gift far more
important that a bequest of earthly gifts.
But even so, Jesus is departing from this earth and, as
every dying person, wishes to reveal a gift.
However, it is not a bequest of earthly goods. Jesus names peace as what he wants to leave. He immediately specifies it as my peace. It is not like the peace of this world. In the peace of this world, whenever everything is going well, we can
manage a certain amount of inner calm.
However, when bad times come, calm is replaced by anxiety and fear. We shake with the wind, vacillate with the circumstances.
But the revelation of Jesus’ dying brings a peace that is
rooted in the conviction that nothing can separate us from the love of
God. This non-abandoning presence of
God is revealed in the cross of Christ and is the source of our inner peace.
What is the peace that Jesus brings? With hectic schedules, where time for family,
friends, work, study, errands – and relaxation – must be planned for each day,
we look for ways to simplify our lifestyles to find some peace. Bands and investment services offer any
number of services to manage our money, so that we can have “peace of mind.”
The peace Jesus gives is not imposed but given as a gift,
not just a brief vacation but a centering peace in which Jesus says to his
disciples: “Do not let your hearts be
troubled.”
The Lord does not leave
us orphans. Rather he sends the Holy Spirit to be with us
all our days. The inner gift of peace is
the Lord’s lasting legacy to us.
But the peace that is Jesus’s gift for us can only be given
birth by living the Gospel. A beautiful
example of the Christian dream of peace can be seen in the first Scripture
reading taken from the Acts of the Apostle about life in the early Christian
community. The Church worked out a new
peace through disagreement. Each side
was given a chance to represent its position and each side was listened
to. In the end, each side also gave up
some of its demands, so that a new consensus emerged. Christians, it was decided, need not follow
all Jewish customs (like circumcision) but they need to follow some, which were
considered essential. Disagreement was
not crushed or avoided but acknowledged, and people of good will were led to a
compromise.
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