Word to the Wise
Tuesday, May 20, 2014 - 5th Week of Easter - Tues
[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. You heard me tell you, 'I am going away and I will come back to you.' If you loved me you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I."
Today's "painting" should strike a familiar chord. At Eucharist, after the Lord's Prayer, we have the prayer and exchange of peace! This has become so familiar that it is now a kind of ritual "How do you do!" to the strangers next to us in the pew! But the words of Jesus are intended to help the disciples prepare for what is ahead of them both in the immediate moment and in what will happen after his "departure." This is considerably more than the "peace" we exchange at Mass!
Another "theme" that appears frequently is the "coming and going" of Jesus in relation to his Father. Jesus speaks of his "going to the Father" so that the Spirit will "come." Later on, after his resurrection, he will impart the gift of the Spirit to them [John 20:22]. This is a different tradition from the one in the Acts of the Apostles [Acts 2:1-4] but John seems to be working from some stories that were not available to or not included by the other evangelists. Perhaps in our wandering through the "Farewell Discourse" exhibit, we may come upon a group of quilts. John's "quilt" has patches that may resemble some of the patches on the other three evangelists' quilts, but he has stitched them together in a very different pattern so that newer themes become prominent.
The "peace" that Jesus offers us comes from faith in him. Our baptismal identity confers on us the commission to proclaim Jesus to the world and the Spirit will provide us with what we need. We'll see more of this in the days ahead. AMEN