Peace be with you

Generally in the world we think of peace as an absence. They used to say, ‘Visualize world peace’ and they mean nations not fighting each other. But that is not what Christ is talking about — not an absence of conflict or struggle. It’s a presence; it’s something that can be with you. That’s the peace Christ comes to give us. We can’t say, ‘May an absence be with you.’ It’s a presence within us. It’s a way of being. And that way of being is love.

Readings at this Mass: Is 66:10–14c | Gal 6:14–18 | Lk 10:1–12, 17–20