Deep Peace

~~~ Acts of the Apostles 14:19-28 ~~~ Psalm 145 ~~~ 

~~~ John 14:27-31A ~~~

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.

Not as the world gives do I give it to you.

Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.

In today's world the only peace we can rely 

on is the peace from Jesus.

We are all searching for peace...we long for peace.

The peace that we find is often temporary.

The peace that we long for is illusive.

There are ways in which we attempt

 to create an environment conducive to peace.

I think we would all agree that when we are

 at peace we are also in a positive environment.

It is essential that we find a way to create

 peace in some form at home.

We need a space where we can escape the chaos of the world.

We need a way to disconnect from the rat race world.

...my peace I give to you.

The peace we are given from Jesus

 is internal peace of heart and soul.

The peace from Jesus is 

experienced from the inside out.

The peace from Jesus runs deep within.

The peace from Jesus gives us hope 

in the promise to be united in the kingdom of heaven.

All tears...all hardships...all suffering

will be no more with the peace of the Lord.

Peace from Jesus is better than any peace 

we can create for ourselves.

Whatever peace we can achieve here 

is just a snapshot of true peace.

The Peace from Jesus

 is the uppercase P.

The peace we create

 is the lowercase p.

Each time we can experience peace

 in our life is a glimpse of the deeper peace.

The deeper peace from Jesus is waiting

 for us in heaven.

When we get to heaven 

the peace we long for will be the norm.

When we get to heaven there will be no anxiety

 that we will lose our peace.

When we get to heaven

 peace will be even better than any

 peace we might hope for today.

Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.

We are Blessed with Peace that only

 Jesus can give to us.

Until we reach heaven 

this peace comes in small servings.

The promise of Peace is for all people

 in all times.

~~~PEACE~~~

Ocean Blue Peace

~~~ Acts of the Apostles 14:19-28 ~~~ Psalm 145 ~~~
~~~ John 14:27-31A ~~~

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.

Jesus gives us his peace.
He is the source and fount of all peace.
The only peace we can give to others
must come from the same source...Jesus.

When I am standing on the deck of a ship
 in the middle of the ocean peace is tangible for me.

We  recently had this experience onboard a ship.
The water was as calm as a lake,
at times it looked as if it was just a painting.
God's peace was all around us for as far as the eye could see.

When we are cruising many things bring peace to mind...
The soaring Albatross birds seem to glide
effortlessly in the sky alongside the ship. 

They catch the wind currents coming
 off the side of the ship and drift for awhile.

This reminds me of how we might think
of the peace coming to us from Jesus...
We should let his peace gently carry us, supporting us.
Can you rest in his peace, even if just for a few minutes?

The high seas are not always smooth and calm,
but when they are it is so peaceful.

Jesus gives us his peace.
It is here for us to access as often as we can.
I invite you to close your eyes and visualize an image of peace...
For me it is the blue ocean from the edge of the ship to the horizon.

May your stress be replaced with his peace.
He gives his peace to you.
There is no other source of peace.

Blessings of peace.

Peace Within...Only From Him

 

~~~ Acts of the Apostles 14:19-28 ~~~ Psalm 145 ~~~ John 14:27-31a ~~~

 

“It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships
to enter the Kingdom of God.”

 

If we consider the many hardships of just the Blessed Mother Mary

and Joseph before Jesus was even born we see they had hardships.

It seems that if you want to be associated with Jesus

 expect to have a few challenges along the way.
Their joy was quickly tempered by their fleeing from a demented ruler.
How could anyone feel threatened by an infant?
Time after time those who follow Jesus are faced
with ridicule and false accusations.
It takes strong faith and conviction to face death for what you believe,
but we have many martyrs in the early church who did just that...
they gave their life to enter into the Kingdom of God. 

 

'...they called the Church together
and reported what God had done with them
and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
Then they spent no little time with the disciples.'

 

 Our faith is built up by hearing the faith stories of others.
The more we hear the more likely we are to also believe.
We can see the enthusiasm of our peers...
those like us, and we too become inspired to a deeper faith.
 

Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

 

Do not be afraid to share your story of how God has worked in your life.
What may seem as insignificant to us may be just what someone else needs to hear.
Every time we share our story it serves as a reminder to ourselves.
A reminder of how God is alive and real.
How he is with us, present now in our life.
He always has been and he always will be...until the end of the ages.

In our world today it can be challenging to think of peace.
There seems to be more than enough reasons for us to doubt
the possibility of ever living in a peaceful world again.

It only takes a few minutes of watching the news
before we realize what a violent world we live in today.
We must be vigilant of our personal safety at all times.
And yet there is no way to protect oneself from senseless violence.

Jesus does give us peace, but as he says it is not the peace our world can give.
We must look for the peace from God within our soul.
This is where we will find the peace from him.
This interior peace, when cultivated, can calm us as
we live in this world of ours.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.

 

 If you are living life to the best of your ability,
 the manner in which God has commanded,
 then you have no reason to have troubled hearts strangled with fear.

Many times in scripture we hear Jesus say...
be not afraid it is I.
Perhaps we should focus more intently on his peace on a regular basis.
Whenever I feel afraid I picture my guardian angel
enveloping me in his/her wings of protection.

The Peace from God is another Blessing of Easter
that we can meditate on today.
Look for ways to bring more peace into your life;
it is good for your soul.

Peace...Pass It On

~~~ Acts: 14:19-28 ~~~ Ps. 145 ~~~ John 14: 27-31a ~~~

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.

Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid."

Wonderful words to read, hear and reflect upon. But in reality I must ask do we really know what it means to have this peace from Jesus?

If you listen to the news reports from around the world you would not be inclined to think of Peace. If you listen to the reports from around our own country Peace would not be in the forefront of your mind.

Jesus wants us to receive his gift of peace, but it challenges us. It challenges us because we must learn to accept this peace in spite of what we may be hearing and seeing. This is a peace coming freely...a peace that surpasses all other peace.

A few weeks ago I was speaking with a young crew member from Russia. He was sharing about his life on the cruise ship. The crew has a difficult schedule they work long hours every day. He spoke about keeping a good attitude and how vital it was to his emotional well being. He had a kind positive manner about himself.

He had decided to make the best of his work environment

no matter what he was asked to do. Each time we got the opportunity to share a few words with him we tried to make him feel appreciated.

If we can just learn to find ways in our life to embrace this peace from Jesus;

we will find ourselves in a better place. It we can gradually become more in tune with this peace, we will see it in more areas of our life.

Peace is not something that we can experience by reading a book.

Peace must be experienced within your soul.

During the Mass when the part comes to extend peace to those around you, make the intention to really let it come from your heart to their heart.

Peace around the world must ultimately be up to each one of us. We must decide to make peace within ourselves a priority before we can extend this peace out to others.

If we cannot have peace without hatred in this world let us remember to always nurture peace within ourselves. I pray that I can always be the one to tip the scale in favor of peace. Not my peace, but peace coming from Jesus.

Do not let your hearts be troubled.

As Julian of Norwich says, 'All will be well'.