Word to the Wise
Tuesday, April 22, 2008 - Tuesday in the Fifth Week of Easter
[Acts 14:19-28 and John 14:27-31A]Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
It has always been a puzzle to me why the "Kiss" or "handshake" of peace at the Eucharist has been a problem not only for some Catholics in this country but for entire countries or cultures! I guess it's the question of some kind of physical contact. The result is often that this very important gift of Jesus to us, which we have been commanded to share with one another, is left in a kind of abstract status, like the phrase, "Have a nice day!" This is NOT what Jesus meant when he gave his gift of peace. Peace, in Jesus' words, is equivalent to eternal life. It is the gift of Jesus to one another. When we offer the sign of peace, we are not wishing a day free of all the sorrows that humanity is subject to or a state of psychological or physical well being or absence of war, illness, etc. It is nothing less than eternal life. I wish the church could find a liturgical way to express this important reality that is not subject to so many taboos (the "touch barrier") or fears (catching a virus, etc.). When viruses show up around here, the "sign of peace" is reduced to what I call the "nod of peace," in the interests of avoiding the spread of illness! When the gift of eternal life is trivialized into a platitude, we are in serious trouble! If nothing else, we can challenge ourselves to be aware of the meaning of the Sign of Peace and be more intentional about the gift we are sharing with one another. It's like receiving communion before we get out into that communion line! AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
75 ms
4
