So, what this reading offers us is, in reality, not a snapshot of any particular community, but rather a tremendous outpouring of divine mercy picking us up from the depths of our real situation and inviting us to become the ideal community that his divine grace desires us to become. That ideal community in any age, ours included, would be such because of his infinite mercy and in virtue of the fullness of peace given it by the Risen Lord, in the power of his Spirit. This realization should, then, provide us with enough courage to look at the wounds present on the Body of Christ, on the Church, that cannot be hidden or ignored. If we read on in the Acts of the Apostles, we would notice that even back then there were divisions, contentions, discords and even deception. It is a greeting repeated more than once and, thus, becoming almost an order given to convince us to change course, to turn around, to regroup and try again. Or, even better, “Peace be with you” must be a very special gift, unique, personal, from the Risen Lord to each one of those who still have in their mouths the bitter taste of failure, of anguish, of dark nights, or stifling fear in their hearts. And, for sure, what is most remarkable in this repeated greeting is the fact that it was given, first, to those thoroughly frightened eleven men locked up in the upper room and, now, to us by the Risen Lord who insists that we touch his fresh wounds just as Thomas touched them a long time ago.īut, what is so remarkable about these wounds especially now that the Body of Christ is so big as to include every person of good will?īefore we attempt to answer this question, we should take another look at the reading from Acts of the Apostles (4:32-35). At first, it seems as if we had before our eyes the perfect picture of what the Body of Christ was like when it was still very small comprising just a few communities of the faithful in and around Jerusalem.Ĭan we assume that the gift of Jesus’ peace was making them so harmonious, of one accord and so loving? Truth be told, that was hardly the case. Yet also in this environment, Jesus says: “Peace be with you.” The first thing that might strike us as relevant in this Gospel passage could be that the doors were locked. Detroit is filled with dilapidated houses with locked doors, boarded up windows, collapsing roofs and “no trespassing” signs. Indeed, we have our share of blights in Detroit. Invariably they speak of failure, of fear, of danger, of shattered lives.
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.” (John 20:19)
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