From The Bishop

In the Gospel of St. John for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Jesus states: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” What does Jesus mean when he says that the peace I give is not the same as the peace that the world gives? An analogy would help to answer this question. There is a ship in the midst of a violent storm and it is being tossed by the waves, the wind, and it is taking on so much water that those on the ship think it is going to sink. Everyone on board fears that they are going to die. At the exact same spot, sitting on the ocean floor, there is a submarine that is in calm water and the crew is at peace. There is still a raging storm; however, when you go deep there is calm. This is what Jesus means when he says that the peace he gives is different than the peace that the world gives. The world would tell us that in order to have peace you need to “get away” from all of those things that trouble you. Jesus offers peace in the midst of the storms when we “go deep.” Here in the depths of our soul we find the peace of His presence. We are reminded that we are not alone and need not be afraid. This is how people are able to remain calm during times of crisis; they regularly go deep and spend time in prayer and meditation with Christ. Their hearts are not troubled. In the First Reading, we see an example of this in the lives of Paul and Barnabas. Throughout their missionary work they experienced many ‘storms’; however, they never gave up or gave in to despair. They had that inner peace that can only come from Christ and His Holy Spirit. The temptation is to always remain on the surface because it is easy; the Readings challenge us to spiritually ‘go deep’. “Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”