“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the
world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” “You
heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved
me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.“ (John 14: 27-29)
So many times Jesus gives us His peace. Do we ever receive it? What does it mean to have “peace” with us?
Jesus says not to be troubled - but then He says he is leaving. Then He says He is coming back. That does not sound like a source of peace! Is he leaving or not? Why is Jesus leaving? Why cannot He stay with us? Does He not love us? Wow - something is going on here.
Jesus said if we loved Him we should be glad He is leaving. As we know from other scripture, His leaving involves dying a criminal’s death. That is hard to accept. What loving Father would allow such a thing to happen to His son?
I do think Lent is the time of testing - of Jesus, of and for us. After His last meal, His trial and sentencing, and then an ignominious procession through Jerusalem to Golgotha - and then, the crowning blow - He dies.
What are we to believe? Why is this happening? Is that all there is? Why does this happen? God wants us to know in a very real, a very human, way that we are loved. God does love us - He shows us that, even as He allows His own Son to pay for our sins. After all, as Richard Rohr says, “God does not love us because we are good, but God loves because God is good.“
Lent helps us learn an answer. Lent leads us to the profound event: Jesus is raised from the Dead.
Dear God, please allow us to know, to try to understand, the cornerstone of our faith:
Jesus is risen. Alleluia!
That brings peace to us, through Faith. Thanks Be To God
Charles A. Strauss
Roman Catholic Church of the Incarnation
Charlottesville, VA
So many times Jesus gives us His peace. Do we ever receive it? What does it mean to have “peace” with us?
Jesus says not to be troubled - but then He says he is leaving. Then He says He is coming back. That does not sound like a source of peace! Is he leaving or not? Why is Jesus leaving? Why cannot He stay with us? Does He not love us? Wow - something is going on here.
Jesus said if we loved Him we should be glad He is leaving. As we know from other scripture, His leaving involves dying a criminal’s death. That is hard to accept. What loving Father would allow such a thing to happen to His son?
I do think Lent is the time of testing - of Jesus, of and for us. After His last meal, His trial and sentencing, and then an ignominious procession through Jerusalem to Golgotha - and then, the crowning blow - He dies.
What are we to believe? Why is this happening? Is that all there is? Why does this happen? God wants us to know in a very real, a very human, way that we are loved. God does love us - He shows us that, even as He allows His own Son to pay for our sins. After all, as Richard Rohr says, “God does not love us because we are good, but God loves because God is good.“
Lent helps us learn an answer. Lent leads us to the profound event: Jesus is raised from the Dead.
Dear God, please allow us to know, to try to understand, the cornerstone of our faith:
Jesus is risen. Alleluia!
That brings peace to us, through Faith. Thanks Be To God
Charles A. Strauss
Roman Catholic Church of the Incarnation
Charlottesville, VA
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