Independence Day, 2008
Reflections on Isaiah 57:15-19,
Philippians 4:6-9,
John 14:23-29
by Judith Zonsius, OSB
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A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit the new Lincoln Museum in Springfield, IL. Already knowing that I had been assigned the reflections for today, and holding the readings in my head and heart as I walked through the museum, I had the lofty goal of these reflections “writing themselves” as I took in the life and words of the great emancipator, Abraham Lincoln. Well, that didn’t happen.
So, back to the commentaries and back to the scriptures for this July 4th “Mass of Peace and Justice,” focusing on a word which we commonly use and appears in today’s readings: peace.
In its common Jewish formula, peace (šālôm) was, and continues to be, both a greeting and a farewell. In ancient times, however, “the word had a much deeper significance…and came to have an eschatological and messianic meaning, virtually the same as ‘salvation.’ It is this spiritual tranquility that Christ gives, which has no resemblance to what the world gives.” [JBC #146]
This promise of the gift of Christ’s peace is a good example of the great paradox of the now-and-not-yet of Christian life, isn’t it?Peace so longed for, and yet peace which eludes the post-exilic Jews, discouraged and destitute, and to whom Isaiah attempts to console with the words:
Peace to anyone who is far and to whomever is near;Peace so longed for, and yet peace which eludes the community of Phillipi, struggling against hostile neighbors and with its own disharmony and bickering, to whom Paul writes:
…the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus…Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you;Peace so longed for, and yet peace which eludes the disciples to whom Jesus says:
Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give. This is my gift to you.Peace so longed for, and yet peace which continues to elude us, despite our country’s forefathers declaring independence from the tyranny of British rule on this day 232 years ago in writing:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.Peace so longed for, yet peace which continues to elude us, despite four score and seven years after that Declaration, Abraham Lincoln, on that Gettysburg battlefield proclaimed:
…that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in
vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth..Peace so longed for, yet peace which continues to eludes us in armed conflicts around the world, and the re-interpretation of the 2nd Amendment’s “right to bear arms.”
Will peace ever come? It is that which we so long for, yet that which so eludes us. As Christians, we must remember that peace is not just the hope of the founding fathers of our nation, but the promise, the gift, of the risen Christ.
May we live our lives being the peace of Christ to each other, to our nation, and to our world in our lifetime…and into the next.
Peace be with you.