May 26th

Post date: May 27, 2019 5:35:7 PM

May 26, 2019 Homily by Fr. Karl Schray

There is a story about a king who had two artists in his court

who were bitter rivals.

The king decided he wanted to know which of them was the better painter.

He told them to each paint a picture on the theme of peace.

The two artists agreed and a week later came back with their paintings.

The first painting showed a dreamy landscape with rolling hills

and a lake with not a ripple on the surface.

The whole scene spoke of contentment, peace and stillness.

The king could barely suppress a yawn. He said to the artist,

‘Your picture is pretty, but it puts me to sleep.’

The second man presented his work. It showed a thundering waterfall.

It was so realistic that one could almost hear the roar of the water

as it crashed onto the rocks a hundred feet below.

‘But this is not a scene of peace as I ordered,’ said the king.

The artist motioned to him to continue looking.

Then the king spotted a detail that had at first escaped him.

Among the rocks at the base of the waterfall

a small shrub was growing with a bird’s nest in its branches.

In fact, there was a bird in the nest, a sparrow sitting on her eggs,

her eyes half closed.

She was waiting for her chicks to be born, a perfect picture of peace.

Turning to this man, the king said: ‘I like your picture very much.

You have conveyed a very important thing about peace,

namely, that it is possible to be at peace

even in the midst of the busyness, the loudness of life.’

Peace is not the same as tranquility. Tranquility is external.

Peace is internal. Peace is the state of inner calm.

We see the world and other people, not as they are, but as we are!

Jesus spoke these lovely words about peace during the Last Supper.

It was a strange time to talk about peace.

Everything was in turmoil around him. His enemies were on the way

to arrest him. Death was around the corner.

Jesus tells his apostles: Remember my love. Remember this peace.

Remember the life it promises for the world.

Jesus knows that the peace he gives will soon seem like

cruel abandonment. There will be suffering and death

before there is resurrection and the gift of the Spirit.

The same disciples who fearfully retreated from the Jesus’ passion

emerged bearing Christ’s peace in the pages of Acts.

Emboldened by faith, empowered by the Holy Spirit,

in the face of great opposition, they offered the peace of Christ.

In our fractured times, Christ’s abiding presence holds true:

a peace that promises never to leave us.

While we may not sense or remember his peace, Christ never forgets.

The peace he offers us is not the peace of escape from reality.

It is something so deep, it is independent of outer circumstances.

It is the peace that passes all understanding,

the peace that this world cannot give, a peace no one can take from us.