Reflections on the Sunday Readings for 4/26/09 by Dawn

You can find the full Scripture Readings for this Sunday at http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/041909.shtml

While they were still speaking about this,
[Jesus] stood in their midst and said to them,
"Peace be with you."
But they were startled and terrified
Luke 24:36-37

Today I finished reading "Three Cups of Tea". I don't know if you have had a chance to read it, but I highly recommend it. As I finished the last page I started thinking about this Sunday's readings. Particularly about how the first thing Jesus says to the frightened disciples was "Peace be with you." Fear makes us do strange things. Can you imagine what might of happened if Jesus did not appear that day in the upper room? It's possible that the disciples might have decided to arm themselves. We all know how Peter cut off the servant's ear the night Jesus was arrested. There was probably fear on all sides that day - obviously with the disciples, with the Jewish leaders, and most likely with the Roman government. Who knows what the fear would have caused people to do!

Recently a very wise woman helped me to see how many of the problems in our world are the result of fear. Particularly after September 11. As a nation, fear took hold. And many of the decisions made both by our government and by ourselves were made out of fear. This gets me back to the book I just finished. It tells the story of Greg Mortenson, who spends his life building schools in some of the most remote regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan. He believes by making a society literate, youn help to remove the fear that is promoted by extremist ideology. In a recent interview Greg states, "If you fight terrorism it is based in fear, but if you promote peace, it is based in hope." The more I think about that, the more I can see how fear has shaped where we as a country, and me as an individual, are today.

Jesus' words "Peace be with you", need to be spoken to each of us today. We, in turn, need to go out and speak them to the world we live in. We, most likely, are not called to fly to Pakistan today, but there are other ways we can live in hope. Maybe it is volunteering at a soup kitchen or shelter, or visiting an elderly neighbor, promising to help if they are in need. Maybe it is telling your kids that you love them and will stand by them no matter what happens.

I challenge you this week to look at your own life and see how fear has affected the decisions you made and how you might live in hope, instead of in fear.



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