May 5, 2013: 6th Easter Sunday C
Many of you have been following the news on what is happening with North and South Korea, with North Korea threatening to start a thermonuclear war. A number of you have asked, “Father, aren’t you afraid for your relatives in Korea?” I replied, “Well, folks in South Korea have heard the same kind of threats from North since the 38th parallel was established in the 1950’s. South Koreans are not as worked up about it as the news agencies make it out to be.” Are South Koreans simply indifferent, unconcerned, or even careless? An interesting fact is that 50% of South Koreans are Christians. Christianity began with Korean lay people studying Catholicism that was brought by foreign missionaries from China in the late 1700’s. For over 100 years, the Korean imperial government ordered numerous persecutions of Korean Christians, and tens of thousands were martyred. Despite constant threat for their lives, nascent Catholic Church grew even larger. How can we explain the growth of Catholics amid the threat of persecution? Why would a Korean want to be a Catholic in those circumstances? The determination of those Koreans is explained by what Jesus said to his disciples at the Last Supper.
During the Last Supper Jesus said to the apostles, ‘Peace I leave with you, my own peace I give you. A peace which the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. So do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.’ The Hebrew word for peace is shalom, which the English word ‘peace’ captures only a fraction of what it means. Peace is not just absence of war or dissention. Nor is it simple harmony. True peace is not the same as tranquility. Tranquility is external. Peace is essentially internal. Peace is a state of inner calm, and designates right relationship with God and with others. Peace in this complete sense, a peace which surpasses all human thought, cannot be created by human effort alone. It is a gift of God.
When we think of a person who embodies peace, we immediately conjure up St. Francis. We know that he was at peace with others and even with nature, and frequently we see him depicted conversing with animals. An image of St. Francis that we may not be so familiar with is Francis with his hands and feet pierced, as we see depicted in a statue on the cover of this week’s bulletin. Francis received the wounds of Christ or Stigmata two years prior to his death. We see him with his pierced arms crossed in humility and his pierced feet without shoes. Can you imagine Francis trying to hold anything in his hands? The pain must have been excruciating, just to hold a spoon in his hands. Also can you imagine what it must have been like for St. Francis to walk bare feet, the very feet which had gaping wounds? We barely can walk when we have blisters on the bottom of our feet.
With each painful step, Francis did not curse or blame God. Rather, Francis thanked God for the gift. How could St. Francis accept such suffering without abandoning his faith? He received peace that Jesus gave him that the world cannot give. Francis felt completeness in God. He felt nothing was lacking despite his suffering because he was in perfect communion with God.
In Francis’ wounded hands, we see the incredibly loving response of St. Francis to the burning love of God, who first loved us. In turn, Francis offers us a glimpse of Jesus’ perfect communion with His Father on the Cross. Even with his arms and legs nailed on the Cross, Jesus had complete peace. People hated him and they injured him; but he did not return hatred or injury. Instead, he sowed love and forgiveness in their hearts, even while he was suffering. “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” People doubted him and even many of his disciples despaired. But Jesus sowed faith and hope in those who were in darkness. This is the gift of peace that Jesus gave to his disciples. In Jesus’ peace, fears and anxieties are conquered. No sorrow or grief, no danger, no suffering can take away the joy of Jesus Christ planted in us.
Do you long for this peace that Jesus offers? Do then what St. Francis did when he asked Jesus, “Lord, make me your instrument of peace.” In the midst of hatred and injury, we can experience for ourselves this peace when we sow love and forgiveness. For it is by forgetting self that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven, and it is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.
