The Word Of Peace
Homiletic Reflections On Peacemaking

Deacon Robert M. Pallotti

Third Sunday of Easter

" I still believe that standing up for the truth of God is the greatest thing in the world. The goal of life is not to be happy. The goal of life is not to achieve pleasure and avoid pain. The goal of life is to do the will of God, come what may...I think I have discovered the highest good. It is love. This principle stands at the center of the cosmos. God is love. He or she who loves participates in the being of God. He or she who hates does not know God."  M.L. King, jr. 1956 (TH 11)

Upon hearing these words, two things strike one immediately. Firstly, that real joy, wonder, hope and peace comes from doing God's will in life. Secondly, that doing God's will must have love at the center--because love is of God--it is what God's wills for all creatures, the world and especially human beings!

These insights are pondered by the disciples who encountered Jesus on the road to Emmaus. They came to know him in the breaking of the bread--that is the Eucharist. They came to know him in his love for us in the sacrifice unto death. That is how they recognized him in the breaking of the bread--his broken body for us ! Jesus' appearing to them at first elicits panic and fright. This seems to be typical of human beings when they perceive god's nearness. Yet Jesus utters the words "Peace be with you". Jesus comes to them in a new, transformed bodily existence that they do not understand. This is the body of the new creation crafted from the earthly body of sacrificial love. Jesus sits at the table with them again, renewing their fellowship--and it is here that they see him for who he is!

We too experience the presence of the crucified and risen Lord at the table of Eucharist. The celebration is one where the Lord is truly present in his body and blood, the assembled community, the priest and the Word. Is it no wonder that Jesus uses the Scriptures to explain who he is the fulfillment of the law and prophets ? But upon saying this, we need to explain what he is getting at.

There are in fact very few direct biblical citations in the Hebrew Scriptures that point to a suffering Messiah. However, that is not our primary concern ! What is essential is that the entire pattern of the way God acts to save Israel is what reveals Jesus' identity. God action is always characterized by acting in solidarity with, suffering with, and being vulnerable in humility in the "least of these" that brings God's saving power to the world. It is embodied most fully in Jesus. And this is so because that is what love does. It does not dominate or bully us to conversion; it entices, persuades and leaves itself vulnerable to move hearts and minds and bodies to love!

We can then more easily understand in I John the call to keep Jesus' commandments-- that is how we come to know God and recognize what the Father has done in Jesus ! Jesus told his apostles that his commandment was to love one another, in doing so they would recognize him and the love of God would be perfected in them !

That is essential in understanding the Resurrection of the Lord as expressed by Peter in Acts. Jesus is raised because the Father fully identifies with his ministry of mercy, justice and peace in the mode of sacrifice. God is saying ." Yes ! this is who I am!"

By why Peace be with You. This must be understood in the context of "Shalom"--that is, harmony between human being, all creation, self and God. This resurrection peace is manifested in a love that fleshes itself out in concrete deeds that work to bring peace. It means helping other to know that God loves them unconditionally, that God loves the world and wants us to do so as well for its sake as well as ours; that God wants us to love ourselves as a unique creation and God's earthly abode. Injustice, war, racism, and all those things that harm human beings, especially the "Least of these", are resisted and changed by those who recognize Jesus as God's love incarnate-celebrated at the Table.

Whatever course our love takes in response to following Jesus commandments we can be sure that if we commit ourselves to it we will begin to see the Lord more clearly in our midst and share in our peace. We know this because the Lord who will judge us is the One who died for us!

In the words of Dr. King again: " It will make you a better doctor, a better lawyer, a better teacher. It will enrich your spirit as nothing else possibly can. It will give you that rare sense of nobility that can only spring from love and selflessly helping your brother or sister. Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for human dignity in love. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in."

Deacon Robert M. Pallotti, D. Min.
Uploaded January 14, 2000