“Peace Be With You / Why are you troubled?”

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke

     The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way,
     and how Jesus was made known to them 
     in the breaking of bread.
     While they were still speaking about this,
     he stood in their midst and said to them,
     “Peace be with you.”
     But they were startled and terrified
     and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
     Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled?
     And why do questions arise in your hearts?
     Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.
     Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones
     as you can see I have.”
     And as he said this,
     he showed them his hands and his feet.
     While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed,
     he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
     They gave him a piece of baked fish; 
     he took it and ate it in front of them.
     He said to them,
     “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,
     that everything written about me in the law of Moses
     and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.”
     Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
     And he said to them,
     “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer
     and rise from the dead on the third day
     and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,
     would be preached in his name
     to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
     You are witnesses of these things.”

     Why does Jesus have to come through a veil? Why even when He removes the veil, He still has to say to us “Peace be with you?” Should not the sight of Him be enough? Should not the Glory of His risen body be all that we need? What more left is there that we remain troubled? It’s not like Jesus didn’t spell out for the disciples all that would come to pass, and for many of them this was a frightening sight. Could it be that he comes to us veiled because it is a response to the veil we place upon our own hearts?

     For whatever reason, the scars, wounds and sorrows within and without can cause in us major doubt, especially doubts in our own goodness or worthiness of love. These doubts can wreak havoc even on the purest of human hearts. Our Lord desires nothing else on earth but our hearts. They were what He thirsted for on the Cross, and they were what He finally rested upon in when He proclaimed “It is finished.” Even as the stone was rolled away and He rose from the dead on Easter Sunday, Jesus still had to remain veiled for most not because His Glory did not prevail, but because of the lingering restlessness that remained in the hearts of His beloved. Even still today He comes to us veiled, through Bread and Wine because sin still abounds in this world and as a result, a shroud of darkness remains with it. It's no secret that humanity has inflicted terrible things upon itself in the two millennia following the triumph of our Lord. As a result, we have closed our hearts in defense of ourselves but in doing so we forget how to truly love and truly live in the way that Christ showed us. 

     Pope Benedict once said in a homily “We continually close our doors, we continually want to feel secure and do not want to be disturbed by others and by God. And so, we can continually implore the Lord just for this, that he comes to us, overcoming our closure, to bring us His greeting: “Peace Be With You”. This greeting of the Lord is a bridge that he builds between heaven and earth” (Pentecost, May 15, 2005).

     The Lord is not phased by the doors to our heart, but he cannot force us to open them either. He chooses to veil himself so He can still remain with us until we ourselves acknowledge that He and He alone is our hearts deepest desire. All the while, He is ceaselessly writing us subtle love letters through all that surrounds us to show us that His love for us is always and limitless. From the gifts and workings of others, to the vast beauty of creation, in the love shown to us by those entrusted into our care, and last but not least the Eucharist, the source and summit; the Lord’s veiled activities are all beautiful ways in which He continuously passes through that door into our midst and whispers silently to us “Peace be with you.” He desires to love us so much that, at times, He would rather something else take the credit just so we are able to accept that love into our hearts because He knew that if He tried to take the credit in that moment, there’s a good chance we’ll reject it because we don’t see ourselves worthy of it in the first place. (If I had a nickel… )

     If there’s one thing I can attest to it’s that the Lord does not give up willingly. He will remain outside that door slipping messages underneath it constantly saying “I know what plagues you, I know what burdens you and I know that you want to hide your face because of it, but I am here, I see you, I love you more now than ever, I’m not going anywhere and I’ll be here whenever you are ready”. Jesus is constantly working, constantly fighting for our hearts, and is constantly near to us, behind the veil because He still holds out hope that the veil of our hearts will be lifted one day and He will be able to come into our midst knowing that all His effort, all His work was well worth the wait and He will be able to finally proclaim with His own voice to us  “Peace be with you, O’ how I have waited for this moment, O’ how I love you”. 
 
     In this season of Easter, let us sit and reflect upon the ways in which we choose to keep ourselves “veiled” to the Lord and ask the Lord to accompany us as we strive for that deeper capacity for love that will allow us to see Him face to face and hear His sweet voice in the depth of our own heart.


About the Author: West Giffin is the Associate Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry (Red Stick Catholics) at the Diocese of Baton Rouge. West grew up in Baton Rouge and was an active participant in youth ministry programs during middle and high school and these communities allowed him to find true community and foster a personal encounter with Christ. Before working at the Diocese, West brought his love for fostering faith-based communities to Most Blessed Sacrament parish, where he was the youth minister for four years. When West isn’t working or pursuing his Master of Art degree in Pastoral Leadership from Notre Dame Seminary Graduate School, he can be found spending quality time with his son, Mason.
Who is your favorite superhero? It's a tie between Captain America and Rocket and Groot (the pair). Also, does Baby Yoda (aka Grogu from “The Mandelorian”) count? You know what, I've decided he counts. Baby Yoda for the win!
 What is your favorite smell? Fresh Coffee

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The Well is a weekly reflection series from Red Stick Catholics that was created to allow young adults from the Diocese of Baton Rouge to reveal how God is speaking to them through prayer and Scripture. Each reflection contains the upcoming Sunday’s Gospel, a reflection written by a young adult from the Diocese of Baton Rouge and prompts for how to pray with the Gospel and reflection during the week. If you are interested in writing a reflection, please email Nicole at [email protected].