Connections&  
April 22, 2001--Second Sunday of Easter

--Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you."         Thomas said to the others, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."       John 20:19-31

Two Sisters
     Once there were two sisters.  Each got married and had families of their own.
     In the first sister's household, everything was always in perfect order.  She expected nothing less.  With only a few quiet but pointed words--sometimes with just a look--she ruled the household.  Everything was completed to her exacting standards, according to her strict and unyielding time table.  From the moment they took their first steps to their own children's first steps, her sons and daughters understood the limits to their mother's tolerance of childish shenanigans and the mistakes and crises (real and imagined) that are part of growing up.  It was much easier for everyone to keep whatever was unpleasant or troublesome from her.  She was so proud of her family, she would always say.  To be sure, when the family gathered for birthdays and holidays--always at her home because she would have it no other way--everyone would smile and play their understood roles, just like the perfect family she envisioned.  Never a cross word was uttered, never a suggestion or hint of unhappiness was raised.  By all appearances, theirs was the perfect family.  But beneath the "perfect" surface, there was a sad emptiness that was the price they paid for keeping peace.
     The second sister's family, by comparison, was a mess.  It seemed that every problem imaginable was visited upon them.  At various times they coped with unemployment, strained finances, serious illness, addiction, even an unexpected pregnancy.  But the second sister and her family always managed to pull together to navigate through life's storms.  All she ever asked was that they be honest and straightforward with her, and she promised to always be there for them.  The second sister and her family dealt with whatever life threw at them with love, compassion, forgiveness--and a genuine peace.
CONNECTIONS:  On Easter night, the Risen Christ gives his Church the gift of peace--peace that is not just the absence of conflict, but peace that actively seeks and honors love, reconciliation, honesty and justice.  Christ's peace is not a passive acquiescence to whatever we perceive as more powerful or intimidating than we are; Christ's peace is the hard work of loving when it is most difficult to love, forgiving when we are too angry or disappointed to forgive, reaching out when we expect to be rebuffed or rejected.  The peace of Christ is centered in no less than Christ himself:  to imitate his selflessness, his compassion, his justice and mercy in our own lives and homes.