05/09/2023
Jn 14:27-31a Jesus said to
his disciples: "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. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it
happens you may believe. I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of
the world is coming. He has no power over me, but the world must know that I
love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me."
Did you know that we have an
archbishop residing in our diocese? Our former bishop, J. Peter Sartain,
retired as the archbishop of Seattle in 2019 and decided to spend the rest of
his life here in Heber Springs, AR. What an honor for our diocese. Now, the
interesting thing is that he was only 67 years old when he retired, although
bishops typically serve until they turn 75. The reason Archbishop Sartain
retired early was for health issues. He had a series of surgeries on his back
that has made it impossible for him to continue in that capacity because of
chronic pain.
But that does not mean the good
archbishop is sitting around watching the grass grow. He gives retreats to
priests, helps with Masses and hears confessions, and provides spiritual
direction to twenty priests in our diocese. And he also loves to get in some
fly fishing on the White River. In other words, he may have retired from public
ministry as an archbishop, but he is still very active in private ministry as a
priest and bishop. Archbishop Sartain is living proof that there is no vacation
from a vocation; once a priest, always a priest.
I am a big fan of Archbishop Sartain,
and that is why I asked him to write the Foreword to my first book of homilies.
By the way, those books are still available in the church office for $25, and
make great Mother’s Day and graduation gifts – I’m just saying. He has a
superhuman memory for names, and will remember you name years after you meet
him. And I love that he always signs his letters with the one word “Peace.”
That he invariably writes “Peace”
before signing his name has always struck me because it seems that is what we
all hunger for: more peace in our life, more peace in our families, more peace
in our marriage, more peace in the world. And I think Archbishop Sartain has
been a man of peace because he knows peace does not ultimately come from an
untroubled, easy life. Rather, peace comes from discovering and doing God’s
will.
In other words, the closing of
his letters with the word “Peace” is not some cheap, thoughtless, throw-away
phrase to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Instead, it is a deep and
even hard-fought conviction that the real road to peace is anything but easy
street; indeed, it is almost always the way of the Cross. And I am convinced
Archbishop Sartain can feel that peace even when his back pain becomes
unbearable. Maybe that is when he most feels that peace.
In the gospel today we see where
the good archbishop may have found his inspiration for signing off his letters
with the word “Peace.” We read from Jn 14:27-28, part of Jesus supremely
significant Last Supper Discourse. Our Lord assures his disciples, sounding a
lot like the archbishop, saying: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”
But then Jesus adds this very important qualification: “Not as the world gives
do I give it to you.”
Notice how Jesus draws a stark
contrast between two different kinds of peace: worldly peace on the one hand
and Jesus’ peace on the other hand. We might describe worldly peace as everyone
sitting around in a circle singing cum-by-ya. Why can't we all just hold hands
and get along? That is not bad, but that is not the best kind of peace.
Jesus’ peace, by contrast, is
discovering and doing his Father’s will, which looks like chronic and
unrelenting back pain, and it looks like suffering and death on the Cross. I am
convinced that Jesus felt the most profound and all-pervading peace as he hung
dying on the Cross. Why? Because that is where he fully and finally completed
his Father’s will. Doing God’s will and feeling true peace are inseparable; you
cannot have one without the other.
My friends, in a few minutes at
Mass, we will turn to one another and say “Peace be with you,” and we will
shake hands, or hug each other, or exchange a kiss as the sign of that peace.
What do we mean when we wish each other “Peace”? Well, we can mean one of two
things: we can either wish each other peace as the world wishes it. Or, we can
offer each other the peace as Jesus gives it. And Jesus’ peace consists in
doing God’s will, which always involves carrying the Cross. And I think that
second option is what the good archbishop meant when he closed his letters with
the word “Peace.”
Praised be Jesus
Christ!
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