Fourteenth Sunday Year C
Rev. Thomas Kuffel
Nothing so devastating occurs as when another rejects us. It cuts to the core of our being. Hurt, humiliated, and outcasted, rejection causes intense internal strife. Those who suffer such rejections: divorce, prejudice, discrimination, and a host of other infractions, create wounds that endure a lifetime. These wounds need healing. Most importantly, the memory and the imagination of these wounds need care, sometimes professional, but always spiritual. Peace heals.
Worse that being rejected is to reject. To publicly reject another reveals a hardened heart. To attack and ridicule another because of their differences creates chasms that last for centuries. Throughout the Scriptures these public condemnations reveal hatred and oppression that is unparalleled. These divisions divorce Israel into three. The Galileans who lived in the north around the Sea of Galilee, the Samaritans who lived in central Israel and worshipped at Mount Gerizim, and finally Judah the tribe of David where the capital of Israel is Jerusalem as well as the Temple. These divisions began with Cain and Abel. They intensified with Ishmael and Isaac and were solidified with Solomon and his oppressive reign. All divisions result from the same cause, sin. Forgiveness of sin creates peace.
Sin divorces us from peace. It denies the truth. Truth unites for there is only one Truth, Jesus. Truth creates peace and peace creates oneness through forgiveness. Jesus not only prays that we all be one but engages in diplomacy entering into the fray of these intense divisions, trying to restore peace by offering forgiveness for all upon the cross.
To restore peace, Jesus sends his Apostles to the house of Israel only (Matt 10:6). He gives them power over demons and the ability to cure the sick and suffering. Then He sends out his Disciples, seventy-two, of which one we believe is St. Luke. They went to the Samaritans and other Gentile Nations preparing the way for Jesus’ coming. As John the Baptist was a voice crying out, so too these Apostles and Disciples cried out preparing the way for Jesus to come and proclaim his kingdom. Both preached the very same message. “The kingdom of God has come near to you” (Luke 10:9).
What is the kingdom of God? It is a New Creation that recreates God’s order. To show that the recreation is occurring, Isaiah foretells, “The new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me” (Is 66:22). The Apostles and Disciples go forth preparing for the new creation by casting out demons, healing the sick, and bringing peace. This peace infuses in the people a new spirit. Recreated through Jesus, Who breathes forth new life into our fallen world, heals the divisions and restores our peace in which we have oneness with God.
Jesus tells Apostles and Disciples to salute the house they enter. “And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it” (Matt 10:13). If the family is not worthy your peace will return to you. Such an odd statement that peace would return unless peace is more than a concept but an actual charisma from the Holy Spirit that allows Jesus’ Truth to penetrate the hearts re-creating their lives.
Peace, as St. Paul tells us, is a fruit of the Holy Spirit given at Confirmation (Gal 5:22). Peace comes from Reconciliation too (CCC 1468). It also is a gift given from the Anointing of the Sick (CCC 1520). Yet, peace, living in harmony with our deepest desire: union with God face to face, radically re-orientates our lives. No longer do we live self-centered. Rather we live lives seeking oneness with God through reconciliation. This communion with God, to behold his face as did Moses, wants the divine presence directing and guiding our lives because his desire invites us to see who we truly are: Sons and Daughters of our Heavenly Father. We are made in the image and likeness of God and if He is One at peace within Himself, we too are to be one not only with Him, but with ourselves and others.
Peace, the Catechism states, is a mystery. “It is the mystery of Holy Saturday, when Christ, lying in the tomb, reveals God’s great sabbath rest after the fulfillment of man’s salvation, which brings peace to the whole universe” (CCC, # 624). God’s Peace is not of this world, nor is it completely attainable in this world, especially as evil and sin create intense divisions not only between peoples, but worse within our own hearts.
To be at peace within our hearts reorientates our lives from living for this kingdom but for God’s Kingdom. This reorientation renews our soul giving us hope despite the rejections that create unrest. Internal peace powerfully defies the emotional and spiritual struggles that so many face, especially when it comes from pure evil.
Peace, a divine gift, sees suffering, physical, emotional, and spiritual, as God’s means to recreate our souls. Every challenge and obstacle become an opportunity to break the hardness of our heart and exercise peace, that internal control of our emotions using our reason and logic to make sound decisions. More so, Divine Peace enlightens our minds with divine intuition so that we know the best course of action instead of floundering in a sea of emotional unrest.
Peace, then, is our home and when we live in peace, we are always at home within. This mindset challenges our focus. No longer do we strive for peace in this life, rather we possess peace as our foundation. Possessing peace reveals its great gift. “Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Lk 10:20). Heaven is the gift of peace, and to know our true home. Knowing heaven is our homeland creates a serenity that nothing else can.
Sadly, those who hardened their hearts and reject Jesus’ invitation to peace receive condemnation because when we reject peace, we reject the author of peace, Jesus Himself. This condemnation creates confusion. If Jesus wants peace to reign in our world creating oneness among us, why is there such a harsh condemnation? Simply put, peace is more than a feeling. It is part of Jesus’ essence. He is Peace as He is Truth. When we reject either we reject Him and divorce ourselves from Truth, which sets us free and Peace, which unites us with God.
Forgiveness paves the way for peace. It restores justice and justice reconciles us to the truth of the other. Only in truth may peace be trusted again. As we see peace unravel amidst the wars, persecutions, rejections, and human depravity, St. John Paul II offers his insight.
The only path to peace is forgiveness. Forgiveness given and received enables a new kind of relationship among people, breaking the spiral of hatred and revenge and shattering the chains of evil which bind the hearts of those in conflict with one another. For nations in search of reconciliation and for those who hope for peaceful co-existence between individuals and peoples, there is no other way than this: forgiveness given and received (John Paul II Message for Lent 2001).