+PEACE I LEAVE WITH YOU 9 May, 2023
Jesus gives us a peace that is not like the peace the world gives. As we heard from the first reading of Acts, St Paul was stoned for proclaiming the word of God, telling the first disciples how necessary it is “to undergo many hardships” if they are to enter the Kingdom of God.
Jesus was to leave his disciples but only in order to come back to them. There are the comings and goings of Christ in each of our lives, a theme that St Bernard often talked to his monks about, for it is in this experience that we learn to truly love the Christ we seek. It is in this experience that we come to take a careful look at all those subtle ways to turn away from that intimate union Jesus seeks to have with us. To own them is to surrender.
Acts 14:19-28; John 14:27-31a