"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you."
What peace is given?
The world offers peace in material well fare that depends on the circumstances. Peace is present as long as we have all that we want. Or peace comes in the form of material possessions that never stay as long as we desire and are always in need of upgrades. The world also offers a peace of escape as it convinces us to remove ourselves from reality. How often do we seek peace in escape and fantasy knowing that it is fleeting and passing? How many times have men and women lost themselves in fantasy only to destroy their lives and the lives of those around them? The world offers a peace of false security, a security you have to pay for in monthly installments. The world offers peace in the form of loans so you can get what you want right now though you have to deal with finance charges or mounting debt that you can not afford. The world offers the peace of medicine and advanced treatments or promises of future cures yet in all the advancement death still comes and decay will find our bones.
The world's peace is always complicated and never as peaceful as it seems.
Jesus offers peace. It is a different kind of peace. It is a peace that is not bound by circumstances or medical advancements or finance charges or fantasy land. Jesus offers a peace that is lasting, a peace that comes from above and enters into our earth. It is a peace that began with his birth and is shown more perfectly on the cross and resurrection. It is a peace that disturbs, shakes us up; it is a peace that delivers on the promises it makes. There is no empty hope, no earthly gain, but there is a heavenly reward. It is a peace that gives us strength to keep our heads held high no matter the circumstances; a peace that calms the storms and chaos in our life; a peace that enables us to embrace death as an entrance into fulfillment of life. It is a peace that conquers, one heart at a time.
It is a peace that offers reality: "I am going away but I will come back to you." It is a peace that holds out someone to believe in, someone to hope in, someone who loves even until the end.
excerpt from St. Athanasius:
"O noble Virgin, truly you are greater than any other greatness. For who is your equal in greatness, O dwelling place of God the Word? To whom among all creatures shall I compare you, O Virgin? You are greater than them all. O Ark of the New Covenant, clothed with purity instead of gold! You are the Ark in which is found the golden vessel containing the true manna, that is, the flesh in which divinity resides. Should I compare you to the fertile earth and its fruits? You surpass them, for it is written: "The earth is my footstool" (Is 66:1). But you carry within you the feet , the head, and the entire body of the perfect God."
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