How wonderful it is for our Priest to recite these words in our Liturgical services! "In peace let us pray to the Lord." Meditate on that simple line. Seven simple words but with the most important two at the begining, "In peace..." When our Priests from all Orthodox Churches call upon us to pray, it is to be in peace. And we all respond, "Lord have mercy!"
We are not called to pray in anger. We are not called to pray in greed. We are not called to pray in cruelty. NO! We are called to pray in peace. Peace. For many people we think of peace as it applies in today's terms or in our cultural subtext. But that is far from it's spiritual connection to our Lord, Jesus Christ.
We first hear Jesus speak of peace in the Beatitudes, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God" (Matthew 5:9). Here, we can see that peace is not some random act, but a declaration from Christ, to us. Jesus calls us to be "peacemakers." We are not called to cause strife or disunity. We are specifically called to be peacemakers. Imagine now that line, In peace let us pray to the Lord, and let us recall our actions, thoughts, and hearts, and truly dwell on this and ask ourselves: "Have I been a peacemaker?" "Have I tried to bring those who are angry with each other together in peace?" "Have I caused others to go against each other, attempting to usurp the peace between them? If we have, can we truly recite back "Lord have mercy?"
Second, we hear Christ tell the woman who could not stop bleeding, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering" (Mark 5:34). When we go about our day, after a Liturgical service, especially after Divine Liturgy when we partake of the Most Holy Precious Body and Blood of our Savior, do we realize that our faith has healed us and thus we should go forth in peace? After the services when we walk out of the Temple of our Lord, should we not carry with our Faith, Peace, since it has healed us and freed us from suffering? If our Faith cannot bring you Peace to your life, how much do you suffer? Realize that Faith in Christ, the Church, and the Saints can bring us so much healing to our lives if we go on in peace.
At a third time, after Christ's Resurrection, he appears to His Disciples, "While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you' " (Luke 24:36). In Christ's first appearance to His Disciples He does not exclaim, "Truly I am Risen" or "Behold the Son of God is before you." No, he proclaims to them, "peace be with you." How wonderful of our Lord to continue to preach this message of peace! He does not go around and questions those who doubted His Resurrection nor does He exclaim to them as to what to do next. Our Heavenly Lord simply says, "peace be with you." How often to we meet our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and give the usual American standard "Hello" or "Hey, how are you" or "What's up." Should we not take cue from Jesus Christ and when we come upon those who we share a Sacramental life with greet them with "Peace be with you!" Who better to imitate to follow a pure Christian life than taking what our Lord said and did and applying to our every life. Greet your family members, your friends, your brothers and sisters in Christ with a joyous voice, that comes from a true heart, and say, Peace be with you! Truly then, you will see the effect it has on those whom you greet.
Thirdly, in the last Gospel, Christ constantly expounds the importance of this simple word. In the first instance we read, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you" (John 14:27). There are very few things that we read about in the Gospels that Jesus Christ specifically gives to His Disciples, one is salvation, two is the Eucharist, and third is His peace! Jesus Christ before the Passion wanted His Disciples to not only carry His message but he wanted them to have His peace. Which we see in the second instance why this is so, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace" (John 16:33). In our Lord and Savior we do not only receive salvation, but we receive Heavenly peace if we believe in Him. By believing in Christ and His Church we are given the gift of peace! How often in our daily lives do we constantly battle with ourselves over worldly issues or question over our Faith? How often to we get angry at ourselves or others, but yet we still call ourselves Christians, despite that when we were Baptized and Chrismated into the Church we were given Christ's peace. He gave it to us so that we might find peace in ourselves but also that when in doubt, in pain, in confusion, we can turn to Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, and recall that in Him we will find peace.
In all four Gospels, Jesus gives us examples and tells us how to carry out our lives, and that is simply in peace. That we be peacemakers, the our Faith will bring us peace, that Christ exclaimed to the Disciples peace be with all of us, and lastly that He gave us His peace so that we might find peace in Him.
So, when you go to Church and in the Services your hear the Priest recite, "In PEACE, let us pray to the Lord," let us recall all these instances and let it reside in our hearts that we have carried them out as a commandment that Jesus left us, and with peace in our hearts we can proclaim back, "Lord have mercy!"
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers and our Lord Jesus Christ, AMEN.
5th Sunday after Great and Holy PASCHA.
Sunday of the Blind Man, 5-29-2011
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