Gospel John 20:19-23
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”
Homily
There are times in life when our spirits we are extremely troubled, sometimes because of our own stupidity, sometimes because of the circumstances of life and at those moments we need with us someone capable of bringing peace to our troubled spirits. I think of those days after the collapse of Clico, when persons lost money, sometimes all their savings. Persons really needed someone to bring peace in the midst of shattered hopes and unfulfilled promises. I remember listening to the budget debate that year wondering whether the Minister of Finance would be the harbinger of peace and hope.
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I remembered those times as I began reflecting on the Gospel passage given to us for our meditation on this feast of Pentecost. The story we know very well. The followers of Jesus have lost all hope and their spirits are troubled. The one they thought would bring liberation to Israel had been captured, judged, condemned and executed. Worst of all he had been betrayed by one of the group. Their dreams of a liberated Israel were all dashed and they were fearful of being tracked down and executed as their leader was. We are told that “on the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews” Jesus, their leader now resurrected came and stood in their midst and said to them; “Peace be with you.” Jesus came and expressed that which was his wish for his disciples. He did not want them to be troubled. He wanted them to live with joy, the joy of knowing that he was alive, that it was He, their master who had been executed who was there with them again and that their wish for liberation and for a liberated community was about to be fulfilled. This liberation was not going to be arrived at as they had believed, by throwing out the hated Romans, but by having removed from their lives all that caused hatred and division among people, the greed, the desire to dominate, the treating of others, not like brothers and sisters of the same father, but as things to be exploited for financial profit and to satisfy passions etc. So Jesus says to them;“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And then he added; “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” The peace which Jesus wished for his disciples, he wished for the whole world and so the disciples are charged to go out, in the same way that he was sent by the Father to remove the causes of hatred and division from the community. Jesus gave to his disciples the power to forgive sin and to remove sin and the sinful structures generated by sin from our midst. Sin and sinful structures are the causes of all hatred and division in the world.
This desire of Jesus is still alive because Jesus still lives. In this liturgical season of Pentecost and this season of Confirmation, the church reminds us of the Jesus’ wish for a community liberated from all that brings hatred and division, for a community which lives with joy because it lives in peace. Because of the Holy Spirit given to the Church at Pentecost and to each one of us individually at Baptism and Confirmation, we are now recreated as architects of Peace. Over our beloved country so divided, politically, socially, ethnically, religiously, we hear Jesus’ words ring out again, today and every day if we have ears to hear; “Blessed are the Peace-makers for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Prayer
All powerful and ever-living God, you sent the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and transformed them into men on fire with zeal for your Kingdom. As we celebrate this feast of Pentecost change us into men and women on fire with your love so that God’s purposes in our world may be fulfilled. This purpose is peace and harmony. That is why Jesus tells us that those who fulfil your purposes, the peacemakers are blessed. May your Spirit change us all into architects of Peace. We ask this through the intercession of Mary who accompanied the apostles in their wait for the Spirit and your Son Jesus who promised us the Advocate. Amen
