“Now whilst they were speaking these things, Jesus stood in the midst of them, and saith to them: ‘Peace be to you; it is I; fear not’” (Luke 24, 36).
First Prelude: Behold the risen Saviour in the midst of the assembled disciples, wishing them peace.
Second Prelude: O my Jesus, give me grace to understand the excellence and the necessity of interior peace, that I may zealously strive to preserve and increase it in my heart.
FIRST POINT
JESUS IMPARTS PEACE TO HIS DISCIPLES
The first word Jesus spoke to His Apostles when He appeared to them on the evening of the resurrection, was: “Peace be to you!” Jesus well knew that peace is one of the greatest goods and that without it there is no true happiness. Christ had promised peace, He had earned it by His bitter passion, and now He imparted it to the Apostles, as the glorious fruit of His saving death. Jesus repeated His salutation to impress upon His own the inestimable value of peace. He commissioned them to carry it to the whole world, and imparted to them the power to forgive sin, to administer the Sacrament of Peace, which effects the sinner’s complete reconciliation with God, and restores peace to his soul.
Oh, how many souls have been raised to a new life during this paschal season! How many find peace when Jesus, by the lips of His minister, speaks to them: “Thy sins are forgiven Thee!” Let us thank the Divine Prince of Peace for such infinite love, and endeavor to draw new enlightenment, strength and consolation from the inexhaustible fount of graces opened to us in the Sacrament of Penance. Thus we shall participate in the plenitude of the Saviour’s peace. Is it my aim to acquire perfect peace of heart by avoiding every voluntary fault?
SECOND POINT
MEANS TO CONFIRM AND PERFECT THE PEACE OF GOD IN OUR SOULS
In the Old Testament, Job recognized the fundamental conditions for the maintenance of peace when he cried out: “Who hath resisted Him and found peace?” (Job. 9, 4). The more perfectly we fulfill the Will of God, therefore, the more perfect shall be our peace. Oh, that we understood this mystery, which is the foundation of the entire structure of our interior life! Souls possessed of true peace perceive the slightest approach of the tempter and repulse him vigorously; they observe their faults in order to correct them, and their good traits in order to perfect them. Such souls resemble a clear sky, unobscured by clouds of sorrow. Though they are compelled to struggle against their passions, their peace of soul is not disturbed. “Much peace have those that love Thy law,” said David of old. Let us rejoice that it is so easy for us in religion to preserve our conscience pure by observing the particular precepts of our Holy Rule and the statutes of our Congregation. How great the peace, how sweet the consolations of religious who observe their Holy Rule faithfully! In them there reigns in an especial manner the peace of Christ, of which the Apostle says that it staggers belief.
With what zeal, promptness and love do I observe my Holy Rule? Are not the unrest, the sorrow, and the aridity that often disturb my soul usually a result of my unfaithfulness?
Affections: O Divine Prince of Peace, not only to Thy Apostles didst Thou leave the precious gift of peace, but Thou didst leave it, also, to Thy faithful servants, as a secure heritage for all times. Couldst Thou have given us a more comforting assurance? How should it be possible for sorrow and misery to depress, or for trials to discourage, us, if the peace of Jesus Christ, surpassing all comprehension, dwells in our hearts? That it may always be my portion, I will endeavor to avoid carefully what might dim the purity of my soul. I will observe my Holy Rule with all possible fervor, as the expression of the Divine Will, and the law of His love, and will maintain interior and exterior tranquillity by holy recollection, at such a price to purchase the blessedness of inward peace by self-denial and complete surrender to the holy, amiable, and adorable Will of God.
Resolution: In order to maintain peace with God, I will scrupulously avoid the slightest act of unfaithfulness.
Spiritual Bouquet: “Lord, grant us Thy peace!”
Prayer: Take, O Lord, and receive all my liberty my memory, my understanding and my whole will. Thou hast given me all that I am and all that I possess; I surrender it all to Thee that Thou mayest dispose of it according to Thy Will. Give me only Thy love and Thy grace; with these I will be rich enough, and will have no more to desire.
(Indulgence of 300 days, once a day. — Pope Leo XIII, May 26, 1883.)
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