One of the consequences of sin that distorts the human race is the lack of peace among us. When we study history in school, we learn about the great wars of the past as well as the ebb and flow of civilizations which were characterized mostly by the ability to conquer and subdue weaker nations and peoples.

 

Much as we like to think of our own country as one that both seeks and defends peace, our history has been characterized by a chain of wars. And of course, we are all following anxiously the current war that has followed the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with unprecedented threats of the use of nuclear arms which could widen the conflict and open a new and terrifying era in modern history.

 

At the same time, our American society is also scarred domestically by the absence of peace. The violence of mass shootings is sadly and painfully common and repeated. The breakdown of the family, characterized by stresses on and failures of marriages, and of children, often heroically raised by a single parent but still lacking the context of both a mother and a father to raise them, has left modern society with deep wounds. And we cannot deny that our society still has not achieved the racial harmony seemed achievable by the efforts for integration undertaken decades ago.

 

Perhaps the greatest hindrance to peace is on the individual level. Every person lives a life that is overshadowed by our coming death. The Second Vatican Council taught that the human person, “… rebels against death because he bears in himself an eternal seed which cannot be reduced to sheer matter. All the endeavors of technology, though useful in the extreme, cannot calm his anxiety; for prolongation of biological life is unable to satisfy that desire for higher life which is inescapably lodged in his breast.” (Gaudium et spes, 18). The spiritual unease is heightened by the growing secularism that distances the human person from God.

 

This widespread lack of peace seems to point only to unrelenting pessimism for the world. But in this Easter Season, we renew our faith conviction that the resurrection of Jesus has given new and definitive hope to the world.

 

At every Mass, we are reminded just before holy Communion that prior to His suffering and death Jesus said to His apostles “Peace I leave you. My peace I give you.” (Jn 14:27). On the night of the resurrection, when Jesus appeared to His shaken and despondent followers whose hearts were broken and disturbed, He greeted them by saying “Peace be with you” (Jn 20:19, 21). It shows that His first concern was precisely to heal the pain and the lack of peace that He knew so well His friends were suffering.

 

The peace that Jesus gives us is not simply the lack of war and violence or the providing of material goods and comforts. Jesus did not even remove from us death itself. He has left to us the peace-giving work of justice and peace that must continue until He returns.

 

But the presence of the Risen Jesus, from the days following the resurrection down to our own time, has given us the consolation of the Holy Spirit. He has shown us that we can overcome all trials including those related to death, by a deeper strength and consolation that comes from God. Jesus’s own victory over death is promised to us as well.

 

Jesus knew well the timid hearts of His apostles. He knows our hearts also. The grace of the resurrection is the difference between despair and hope in all that we do. That is the peace that Christ has left us, the peace that He continues to give us.