“Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.
“I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. 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. You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.”
REFLECTION
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you"
In this Gospel, Jesus is talking to the disciples during the last supper. It makes me realize how much He loved His disciples.
He told them that even when He would go away the Holy Spirit would come to them. They (we) are not alone. He will come back.
Jesus is leaving His peace with them. Not a worldly peace: His peace.
What is peace? From the Catholic perspective, peace is not the absence of war, of conflict. It is not nirvana, nor anesthesia from any and all pain.
Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote in his Confessions the famous phrase: "Our hearts are restless and will not rest until they find rest in You".
Forgive my ridiculous attempt to summarize this. Here is my understanding:
Saint Augustine tells us that since the beginning of time, humanity has lived disordered lives because of Original Sin. Thus our souls become "restless" (inquietum) while at the same time longing for peace. Peace is always elusive if this is an object of choice. We must choose something else first, and peace will be a fruit of this choice.
So, what should this choice be? St. Augustine tells us about order. There are many kinds of order. What the saint had in mind were the virtuous acts that lead to God. We must direct our love towards God, which will pour into love for our neighbor. Out of this love, and acts of love towards God and neighbor (even those things that are burdensome), peace will arise. Peace will be the fruit, the blessing of these acts of love. It is what St. Augustine called the "tranquility of order" (tranquillitas ordinis) in his book The City of God.
We must be aware that this tranquility is not because of our abilities, but is given to us from God.
Our problems will not magically go away if we believe and follow Christ. However, He is promising to give us the help we need to persevere if we choose to follow Him. The Holy Spirit is here to help and strengthen us: "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light,for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth' (Eph 5:9).
Saint Augustine also left us the beautiful Prayer to the Holy Spirit to help us ask God to strengthen us and direct our whole being towards Him. And by doing so receive the fruits of the Holy Spirit: "In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness' (Gal 5:22).
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