Christian Reflection and Prayer

"Peace be with you" (Luke 24:36).

Ramsay MacDonald, one-time Prime Minister of England,
was discussing with another government official the possibility
of lasting peace. The latter, an expert on foreign affairs, was
unimpressed by the Prime Minister's idealistic viewpoint.
"The desire for peace does not necessarily ensure it,"
he remarked cynically.

"Quite true," admitted MacDonald. "Neither does the desire
for food satisfy your hunger, but at least it gets you started
toward a restaurant."   

"My peace is My gift to you," Jesus said to His disciples,
"a peace the world cannot give" (Jn. 14:27). The Gospel
writers want us to understand that, in and through Jesus
Christ, God is constantly giving to us. He is giving Himself,
giving His Love, giving His promise never to abandon us. He
is giving His promise of ultimate, total fulfillment in that
blessed peace of heart and mind and soul which the world
can never give. And if your desire to receive the Peace of
Christ is yet to be satisfied, at the very least, it gets you
started in the right direction.

Jesus' gift of peace is "shalom." In its deepest meaning, the
gift of shalom can be described as the sense of your life's
wholeness and purposefulness. It is the understanding, at
the deepest level of your being that you are somebody, that
you are destined for greatness.

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