Peace I Leave With You

Dear brothers and sisters,

There are words that fall into a room like a soft breeze: quiet, but unmistakable. Jesus says: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” And perhaps it is the way he says “my peace” that lingers.

Friends

What kind of peace does Jesus offer? With his words: It is not the kind of peace the world can give, bound to conditions in fragile agreements.
It is something deeper. Something rooted.
Deeply anchored in a trustful union of respect and fairness.
Deeply rooted in divine union of love, which builds bridges and not walls.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.”

Jesus speaks these words at the Last Supper. He knows what is coming. He knows fear will shake them. He knows sorrow will touch them. And still, he says: “Do not let your hearts be troubled, or afraid” (John 14:27). Earlier, he strengthened his followers with these words: “You have faith in God, have also faith in me” (John 14:1). These aren’t casual words. They are words which are spoken in the shadow of the cross. And yet, even there, Jesus offers his faith, he offers his peace.

Not peace that avoids the cross, but peace that walks through it.
Jesus’s peace doesn’t erase pain or magically fix what is broken.
It is a peace that doesn’t leave us, even when life takes us where we do not want to go.

A Very Important Question

Why did Jesus have this incredible peace, this trust within himself?
Because he knew the Father will never abandoned him.
Because he trusted that something greater was being born through suffering.

This is what the resurrection reveals: Not a story of escape, but a story of transformation.

That’s what makes today’s second reading from Revelation (Rev 21:10-14,22-23) so powerful. John gives us a vision - a city filled with light and glory. Because “the glory of God gave it light, and it’s lamp was the Lamb.”

This is not just a vision for the distant future.
We don’t have to wait until heaven to experience this kind of closeness with God.
This vision shapes how we live now. Because the risen Christ already lives in us and offers us his peace.

Peace Disturbed

We all face moments that try to steal our peace: a conversation that turns tense, a worry that refuses to let go, a moment when we feel alone or misunderstood.

In the first reading from Acts (15:1-2,22-29) we hear of a crucial moment in the early Church’s history. Even when they were faced with questions and conflict, Jesus’ followers, didn’t split apart.
They listened, prayed, discerned. And together they could say: “It is the decision of the holy Spirit and of us. It was not certainty, but trust. It was not perfection, but communion. That, friends, is peace in action.

Christ does not hand us a life free of struggle. He hands us his peace. And he entrusts us with it—not to hoard (horten), but to share.
A peace that listens before it speaks.
A peace that forgives before it judges.

The peace of Christ Jesus is definitely more than just the absence of a conflict.

And perhaps this is enough for today, to know that Christ’s peace is not far off. His peace already dwells within us. It may not remove every burden, but it gives us the strength to carry them with endurance. It may not silence every storm, but it calms the heart within it. So, let us walk forward – peacefully, as salt of the earth and lights of the world.

Praised be Jesus Christ.