Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Jesus’ words today that we not let our hearts be troubled or afraid are, well, troubling. These words trouble us because they give us to realize just how troubled we are, how little we allow ourselves to follow this command of his. Is it not true that troubled hearts abound and for good reason? Sickness, suffering, poverty, war, family strife, and division (along with their many friends) surround us, hem us in, press us on all sides. Where is the escape? How could we ever live without a troubled heart?
The situation is made worse by our insatiable desire for peace. We just want to be secure, to be free. One way to get peace is by ignoring the causes of our worry. We avoid the pain of the world or the weight of responsibility. We distract ourselves with so many amusements, some worse than others, so as not to deal with the dark parts of reality. That is the peace the world offers. It’s cheap grace, empty peace, the pig slop that the Prodigal Son, starving, longed to eat.
The source of the Christian’s peace is not avoidance but embrace. Jesus shows us how to do it. Even though he embraces his cross and carries his responsibility to the point of great suffering, he remains one with the Father who loves him. That is the way to peace: accepting reality—having the hard conversation, admitting to being wrong, being faithful to the demands of my vocation—and moving through it, slowly seeing how the Lord illuminates the dark parts and reveals that, the whole time, he has been bringing us closer to the Father.