THE PRICE OF PEACE

Gn 44:18-21, 23-29; 45:1-5/Mt 10:7-15

We dream of peace. We pray for peace. We hope for peace. But peace remains illusive to us. In every Mass we celebrate, just before we break the Bread, the Body of the Lord, we ask the Lord for the gift of peace. But where is peace?

Peace remains illusive to us perhaps because all we do is dream, pray, and hope for it. In order to have peace, we must work for peace. If we want to enjoy peace, we must labor for it. Where there is no peace, let us sow the seeds of peace and we will find peace.

Are we not guilty of praying for peace but not becoming more and more peacemakers ourselves? We beg the Lord for peace, but we harbor in our hearts hurts from the past and refuse to forgive our assailants. We storm heaven with our prayers for peace, but the doors toward reconciliation remain closed and the table of dialogue empty. We want peace, but we do not want to pay the price for it.

What is the price of peace? The price of peace is making peace. Only men and women of peace receive peace.

Like Joseph, the man from our First Reading today, revenge against those who hurt us must never be an alternative for us. Our option can only be peace. Like the apostles in the Gospel today, peace should be our gift to all. Peace is our choice and mission, not only our prayer and hope. Peace is our life and gift.

In the Mass, we pray for peace and give one another the sign of peace just before we break the Bread, the Body of the Lord, lift it us as the Lamb of God, and partake of it. If we want peace, we must be ready to allow our selves to become like bread broken for the life of the world. The best sign of peace is strive becoming more and more like Jesus, our Peace, to one another.

Today, ask the Lord for the grace to make peace, not only to have peace. Resolve to extend a hand of reconciliation to anyone who might have hurt you. Likewise, humbly seek forgiveness from those whom you might have hurt.