The readings of this Sunday present us with different aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit. In the first reading, we see the Holy Spirit at work among the apostles during the decision-making process at the Council of Jerusalem. In the second reading, the Holy Spirit reveals a majestic vision of the New Jerusalem—the heavenly Church of the future and the true Kingdom of God. The Gospel text is taken from Jesus’ Last Supper discourse and is centered on His imminent departure. At the beginning of the passage, Jesus urges His disciples to keep His words. Obeying His words is a prove of their love—not only for Jesus, but also for His Father. In today’s gospel, Jesus said to the apostles, “Peace I leave with you; My own peace I give you.”
The Hebrew word for peace is shalom. Shalom is a term widely used in the Bible and is rich in meaning. The English word peace conveys only a fraction of its depth. Generally, shalom expresses a sense of universal completeness—a condition in which nothing is lacking. This state of perfect well-being belongs only to God. When one possesses true peace, one is in perfect communion with God. Peace, therefore, sums up all the blessings of the Messianic age. The false prophets proclaimed peace when there was none. Jesus, on the other hand, is sometimes referred to as a “disturber of the peace”—but the peace He disturbed was false. True peace is not found in mere prosperity or external well-being. An essential element of peace is righteousness.
Without true righteousness, there can be no genuine peace. Therefore, there is no peace for the wicked and the unrighteous. Some people believe that peace is simply the absence of war. However, peace is more than the absence of conflict or dissension. It is not just simple harmony. True peace is not mere tranquillity, because tranquillity is external. Peace is essentially internal. It is a state of inner calmness and reflects a right relationship with God and with others. Jesus offered His disciples true peace because He had peace within Himself. The peace of Jesus is communion with God. Since He is in perfect communion with God, He can give us the gift of peace.
Every Christian has a vocation to peace. Yet, often instead of giving peace to others, we bring them unrest and unhappiness. When Jesus appeared to the apostles after the Resurrection, He did not blame or scold them for failing Him. Instead, He broke through the closed doors of fear and doubt and spoke the words they desperately needed to hear: “Peace be with you.” Through those loving words, He turned their despair into hope and their sadness into joy. Brothers and sisters, how fortunate we are if we taste the peace of Jesus. This is the peace that surpasses all understanding and which the world cannot give. It is a peace no one can take away from us—one that can exist even in the midst of a troubled world, a troubled family, and a troubled society.
The peace of Jesus is God’s gift to us, and it is a gift we, too, can offer to others. Jesus bequeathed His peace to His disciples. Before departing from this earth, He gave up all His possessions. His soul He committed to His Father, His body to Joseph of Arimathea for a decent burial, His clothes to the soldiers, His mother to St. John, and His peace to His poor disciples. What kind of peace is Jesus talking about? What difference does the peace of Jesus make? How is it different from the kind of peace we often experience in human society? People of God, Jesus often told His disciples that He would dwell with them and in them. This peace of Jesus comes with His presence. Jesus is our peace (Ephesians 2:14). Wherever He is, there is peace. His peace is inseparable from His person. The peace He gives is peace between God and us. We, who were once at odds with God, have now been united with Him through the Blood of Christ. Jesus worked out this peace between the Father in heaven and the rebellious prodigal children on earth. We are no longer strangers and aliens, but children of God.
My dear friends, we cannot experience the peace of Christ if we are not at peace within ourselves. Conflicts between our instincts and ideals—between good and evil—often rob us of peace. Our tendency to approve what is good but carry out what is bad is at the root of our inner unrest. These internal struggles lead to failure, failure brings guilt, guilt leads to stinging consciences, and stinging consciences destroy our peace. Yet, despite these many conflicts, there is a way to find peace—no matter how many or how heavy the struggles may be. And that is by clinging to Jesus. Jesus is our ransom; He is our goal, our ideal. In Jesus, we find fulfilment. In Jesus, we find sufficiency. Whoever we are—weak or strong, saint or sinner, rich or poor—if Christ is not with us, we lack peace. The world without Christ is insufficient and incomplete.
But Christ without the world is sufficient, complete, and perfect. Jesus has also brought about peace among all human beings. Because of Christ, there are no longer Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free, Yoruba, Igbo, or Hausa. He has abolished all human-made divisions and has united everyone. As St. Paul says: “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free— and we were all made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13). Jesus, our Master, commands each of us to love all people, and we are called to love them as He has loved us. We are no longer to live in enmity with one another. We are no longer to divide ourselves by language, tribe, or culture, but to live as brothers and sisters, redeemed by the precious Blood of Christ. Dear people of God, the peace that the world gives is only temporary. What the world offers lasts only for a short time.
But the peace that Jesus gives—like all His blessings—is eternal. Nothing can take that peace away from us: not sickness, not hunger, not poverty or abundance, not life, and not even death. Possessing Christ and His peace does not necessarily shield us from the storms and struggles of life. Many things in our country will continue to disturb us, and many things within us will rise up and threaten to unsettle our peace. We must constantly battle these forces and make every effort not to lose the peace Christ has given. Possessing Christ enables us to calm the storms that rage against us. May the peace that Christ promised His disciples dwell in our hearts, our families, and our nation. Amen.
• Rev. Fr. Christopher Ngbede is the Associate Parish Priest, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Catholic Church, Okota.
