Let Easter’s peace break in

Do you realize that the more you dwell on your problems, fears, doubts, difficulties, the bigger they become? We begin to react negatively, engage in selfdoubts, make poor choices, feel rejected. Then we tend to push God and other people away and isolate ourselves.

We need to stop dwelling on these problems, just as Jesus challenged the disciples following the Easter Resurrection to stop fear and let Him break in with Peace. Jesus challenges His disciples and each one of us to look our problem or trouble squarely in the eye and say, “I am bigger than you and you cannot defeat me or deny me Easter Peace.”

Jesus says to the disciples at His appearance, “Peace be with you.” A person full of fear and anxiety and worry does not know peace. Before we know peace, we have to know who we can trust and know that our trust is secure. Hopefully, for each of us gathered here our trust is secure in the Risen Jesus but we can still all wish that that He would give us a little more proof. There is a part of each one of us that Jesus still has to break into and that is our fear to give ourselves over in trust and peace to faith in Him.

Faith essentially means trusting someone when we have no clear signs. It is a difficult balance to keep knowing who we can and who we cannot trust. Fear is the opposite of trust and keeps peace from us. The church calls this Divine Mercy Sunday for it wants us to know a deeper trust in the mercy and love of Jesus Christ.

Easter Peace is a great gift and a needed gift for all of us after COVID-19, a war going on in the Ukraine and so many issues in our own nation. We need to be like Thomas, in the Gospel, and not walk away as Thomas might have said to the ten disciples, “You ‘re all crazy.”

What a difficult week that must have been, waiting for Jesus to come again and wondering if He would come both for Thomas and the other ten. Then, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with You.” He told Thomas to answer his doubts and touch Him. This Gospel passage is telling us, if we stay with faith that the Lord will reveal Himself to us and we will come to know Easter peace of mind and heart.

Easter Peace is given to us to strengthen our belief. Believing is accepting something without seeing it and believing will lead us to seeing but we need to believe first. For us as Catholics, that belief and trust and peace is strengthened by the Eucharist. The gift of the Body and Blood of Jesus given at each Eucharist following the sign of Peace is given so we can go and be peace makers in our world.

We are challenged by Jesus’ last words to Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” How badly we all need that Peace; and may the gift of the Eucharist given at Mass to us today give us the Faith, Hope and Love we need to go and sow seeds and be instruments of peace this spring season.