At Mass, Pope Francis explains "..that peace, this which Jesus gives us, is peace for now and for the future." Full Text

MORNING CELEBRATION BROADCASTED LIVE
FROM THE CHAPEL OF CASA SANTA MARTA

HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS

" How does the world give peace and how does the Lord give it?"

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Introduction

Today is the nurses' day. Yesterday I sent a message. Let us pray today for nurses and nurses, men, women, boys and girls who carry out this profession, which is more than a profession, it is a vocation, a dedication. May the Lord bless them. At this time of the pandemic, they set an example of heroicity and some gave their lives. Let us pray for nurses and nurses.

Homily

Before leaving, the Lord greets his own and gives the gift of peace (cf. Jn 14 : 27-31), the peace of the Lord: «I leave you peace, I give you my peace. Not as the world gives it, I give it to you "(v. 27). It is not about universal peace, that peace without wars that we all want always to be, but the peace of the heart, the peace of the soul, the peace that each of us has inside. And the Lord gives it, but - he underlines - "not as the world gives it" (v. 27). How does the world give peace and how does the Lord give it? Are they different? Yup.

The world gives you "inner peace" - we are talking about this, the peace of your life, this living with the "heart in peace" -, it gives you inner peace as your possession, as something that is yours and isolates you from others, keeps you in you, is your purchase: I have peace. And without realizing it, you close yourself in that peace, it is a peace a little for you, for everyone; it is a "lonely" peace, it is a peace that makes you calm, even happy. And in this tranquility, in this happiness you fall asleep a little, anesthetize you and make you stay with yourself in a certain tranquility. It is a little selfish: peace for me, closed in me. Thus the world gives it (cf. v. 27). It is an expensive peace, because you have to continually change the "instruments of peace": when one thing excites you, one thing gives you peace, then it ends and you have to find another ... It is expensive because it is temporary and sterile .

Instead, the peace that Jesus gives is another thing. It is a peace that sets you in motion : it does not isolate you, it sets you in motion, makes you go to others, creates communities, creates communication. That of the world is expensive, that of Jesus is free, it is free; it is a gift from the Lord, the peace of the Lord. It is fruitful, it always carries you forward.

An example of the Gospel that makes me think how world peace is, is that gentleman who had the barns full and that year's harvest seemed to be very full and he thought: “I will have to build other warehouses, other barns to put this and then I will be calm ..., it is my tranquility, with this I can live calm ". "Fool, says God, you will die tonight" (cf. Lk 12 : 13-21). It is an immanent peace that does not open the door to the afterlife. Instead the peace of the Lord is open to where He has gone, it is open to Heaven, it is open to Heaven. It is a fruitful peace that opens up and also brings others with you to Heaven.

I think it will help us to think a little: what is my peace, where do I find peace? In things, in well-being, in travel - but now, today you cannot travel - in possessions, in many things, or do I find peace as a gift from the Lord? Do I have to pay for peace or do I get it for free from the Lord? How is my peace? When I miss something, do I get angry? This is not the peace of the Lord. This is one of the tests. Am I peaceful in my peace, "I fall asleep"? It is not of the Lord. Am I at peace and want to communicate it to others and carry on something? That's the peace of the Lord! Even in bad, difficult moments, does that peace remain in me? It is of the Lord. And the peace of the Lord is fruitful also for me because it is full of hope, that is, look at Heaven.

Yesterday - sorry if I say these things, but they are things in life that are good for me - yesterday I received a letter from a priest, a good priest, good, and he told me that I speak little of Heaven, that I should talk more about it . And he's right, he's right. This is why today I wanted to underline this: that peace, this which Jesus gives us, is peace for now and for the future. It is starting to live Heaven, with the fruitfulness of Heaven. It is not anesthesia. The other, yes: you anesthetize yourself with the things of the world and when the dose of this anesthesia ends take another and another and another ... This [of Jesus] is a definitive peace , fruitful and contagious too . It is not narcissistic, because it always looks to the Lord. The other looks at you, it's a little narcissistic.

May the Lord give us this peace full of hope, which makes us fruitful, makes us communicative with others, which creates community and which always looks at the definitive peace of Paradise.
FULL TEXT + Image Source: Vatican.va - a Translation from the Italian