Sunday, April 15, 2007

"Now when it was late that same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them: Peace be to you." (John 20:19)


The greeting is very special and means much more than ordinary greeting, for peace is the fruit of redemption. Satan had once destroyed peace between God and His creatures, he snatched it away from human heart and worked very hard to make this separation firm and stable. However, the God-Man has come and through His Redemptive work reconciled Heaven and earth. For Christ: "preached peace to you... For by him we have access... to the Father" (Ephesians 2: 17,18). The prophet has foretold Christ as a Prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6) who said: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid."(John 14:27). We need to remeber that after original sin there was no peace on earth whatsoever. But some taste of it could already be found:"Much peace have they that love thy law" (Ps 118:165). If you can honestly say: "Lord, my God, there is nothing separating us, there is no mortal sin!" you are a very happy person, and you are the child of peace. The Apostle says: "Let us not be made desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying on another." (Gal 5: 26). We should certainly avoid also any self-seeking, for it destroys inner peace. We should not get overwhelmed by successes nor be discouraged by mishaps, but in everything we should act for God and have our minds focused on Him, for this is the only way to attain inner peace. Let us keep away from people who propagate separation from God for this causes interior, exterior, temporal and eternal unrest. Day after day its range and intensity will grow steadily in the victim. In the former country of Bolsheviks for example, people were greeting each other with satanic-like mockery: "There is no God", and the answer followed:" for ever and ever". Those who wanted to get a job or succeed with their career had to confess firm unbelief in the existence of eternal soul and God, or at least to be able to conceal any such beliefs effectively. Some zealous communists even decorated themselves with tatoos proclaiming God's nonexistence. This reminds us what is said in Revelation: "And he shall make all, both little and great, rich and poor, freemen and bondmen, to have a character in their right hand, or on their foreheads. And that no man might buy or sell, but he that hath the character, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." (Apocalipse 13: 16-17). Very scary prognosis for Christian Europe. And nobody seems to take any notice or maybe people do not want to see anything worrying. How important is then the existence and agenda of Catholic Action: "Therefore let us follow after the things that are of peace; and keep the things that are of edification one towards another" (Rom 14: 19).