April 17-18: Preparing to Celebrate this Weekend’s Mass

In the Resurrection accounts in the Gospels, the first words Jesus says to the disciples in the upper room are “Peace be with you!” In fact, these are the words Jesus says most often when He appears anywhere after the Resurrection. Jesus wouldn’t say these words over and over again, if they didn’t have a deep significance. Why did He say them and why did He say them repeatedly?

First of all, Jesus would have said these words to calm the disciples who were in a state of alarm and fright upon seeing Him again. But Jesus meant something far deeper than this when speaking these words. Remember, the disciples had largely abandoned Him during His Passion. So, when Jesus says, “Peace be with you,” it shows He has forgiven them, and that they (and Jesus) now must move on … and work together to bring the Good News to the world. It is this peace, His peace, and the forgiveness it holds, that will encourage them to preach to all the nations.

These are the same words the priest says to us at Mass and the words we say to each other (for now, from a safe distance): “Peace be with you.” When we attend Mass (whether in person or via livestream), we all come with our worries and troubles, right? And so, when the priest says, “Peace be with you,” the priest is saying in persona Christi (in the person of Christ) that it is okay that we are there with our restless hearts, our doubts, and our confusions, but we must now fully trust Jesus and place everything in His hands, not only during Mass but all week long. When we extend His peace to each other, we are doing exactly the same.

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Let’s let St. Francis lead us in prayer:

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:

where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand,

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.”

 

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