“The more we feel that our hearts are agitated, the more we feel nervousness, intolerance, and anger within ourselves, the more we must ask the Lord for the Spirit of peace.” Words of the Pope at the time of the Regina Coeli prayer, meditating on the promise of Jesus: “I leave you peace, I give you my peace.”
DIARY OF HUILA, REFLECTIONS
“I leave you peace, I give you my peace”, the phrases of Jesus at the last supper, were the center of Pope Francis’ reflection on the Gospel of the Day, which, as every Sunday, looked out from the window of the Vatican Apostolic Palace to pray together with the faithful present in Saint Peter’s Square the prayer to the Mother of God.
one dies as one has lived
Jesus – said the Holy Father – says goodbye with words that express affection and serenity, but he does so at a moment that is not exactly serene: Judas has come out to betray him, Peter is about to deny him and almost everyone else will abandon him. «The Lord knows it, and yet he does not reproach, does not use severe words, does not pronounce harsh speeches. Instead of showing agitation,
remain affable to the end.”
The Holy Father then recalled a proverb that says that “one dies as one has lived.” And he found that, in effect, “the last hours of Jesus are like the essence of his whole life.” He experiences fear and pain, but leaves no room for resentment and protest. He does not let himself be carried away by bitterness, he does not vent, he is not unable to bear. He is at peace, a peace that comes from his meek heart, filled with trust. From there arises the peace that Jesus leaves us. Because you can’t leave peace to others if you don’t have it in yourself. You cannot give peace if you are not at peace.
A testimonial worth a thousand words
With this phrase, Jesus, the Holy Father continued, “demonstrates that meekness is possible.” He has incarnated it precisely at the most difficult moment; and he wants us to behave like this too, who are the heirs of his peace. He wants us meek, open, available to listen, capable of appeasing disputes and weaving harmony. This – assured the Pope – is to bear witness to Jesus, and it is worth more than a thousand words and many sermons.
Let us ask ourselves if, in the places where we live, we, the disciples of Jesus, behave like this: Do we ease tensions, extinguish conflicts? Do we have a bad relationship with someone, are we always ready to react, to explode, or do we know how to respond with non-violence, do we know how to respond with gestures and words of peace? How do I react? Let everyone wonder.
After this invitation to discernment, the Pontiff acknowledged that this meekness “is not easy”. In fact, he found how difficult it is to “defuse conflicts.” But it is precisely here that, according to the Successor of Peter, “the second phrase of Jesus comes to our aid: I give you my peace.”
Jesus knows that we alone are not capable of guarding peace, that we need help, a gift. Peace, which is our commitment, is above all a gift of God. In effect, Jesus says: “I give you my peace, but not as the world gives it.” What is this peace that the world does not know and that the Lord gives us? It is the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit of Jesus.
Let us invoke the Holy Spirit
For all these reasons, the Holy Father Francis reiterated that “no sin, no failure, no grudge should discourage us from insistently asking for the gift of the Holy Spirit” since “the more we feel that our hearts are agitated, the more we notice in our interior nervousness, intolerance, anger, but we must ask the Lord for the Spirit of peace”.
“Let us learn to say every day: ‘Lord, give me your peace, give me the Holy Spirit,'” he encouraged, exhorting us to ask for it also “for those who live next to us, for whom we meet every day and for those responsible for nations.” May Our Lady – she concluded – help us to welcome the Holy Spirit to be builders of peace.
The Pope’s thoughts after the Regina Coeli
After the Regina Coeli prayer, Pope Francis asked for applause for Pauline Marie Jaricot, founder of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, whose beatification will take place this afternoon in Lyon. “This lay faithful, who lived in the first half of the 19th century, was a courageous woman, attentive to the changes of the times with a universal vision of the mission of the Church. May her example arouse in everyone the desire to participate, with prayer and charity, in spreading the Gospel in the world”, she said.