Saint Kilian, Bishop and Martyr
July 8th, 2010
“Whatever house you enter, first say ‘Peace to this house!”
Luke 10:5
This is the second account Luke gives of the sending out of the disciples on mission and it is striking to read that their first words are to be ‘Peace to this house!’ They are to bring peace to those who are to receive it. Luke sees the Gospel as the Good News of peace. Right from the beginning of his Gospel the angels at the nativity of Jesus sing, ‘On earth, peace,’ and the refrain occurs right through the Gospel.
Jesus often repeats ‘Go in peace,’ and peace is his final blessing at the last Supper, and again, his final greeting to the disciples in the Upper Room after the Resurrection.
In a world of unrest, turbulence, malice and aggression, the Christian gift of peace is beyond value. So let us pray for this gift of peace for ourselves and for our world.
Prayer
Prayer
Lord, as your apostles were called to be bearers of peace, let me too bring your peace to others. Take from me all worry and insecurity in the knowledge that if I trust in you alone rather than in my own strength,you will give me your peace to abide with me always.
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Just a Thought
How the Holy Family prayer: A Reflection by Pope Benedict XVI
“I would like to invite you to reflect on the place of prayer in the life of the Holy Family of Nazareth. The home of Nazareth, in fact, is a school of prayer where we learn to listen, to ponder and to penetrate the profound meaning of the manifestation of the Son of God, drawing our example from Mary, Joseph and Jesus.
Pope Paul VI during his visit to Nazareth said “we come to understand the need for a spiritual discipline, if we wish to follow the teaching of the Gospel and become disciples of Christ.” And he added: “First, it teaches us silence. Oh! That there would be reborn in us the esteem for silence, that wonderful and indispensable atmosphere of the spirit: while we are deafened by so many noises, sounds and clamorous voices in the frantic and tumultuous times of modern life. Oh! Silence of Nazareth, teach us to be resolute in good thoughts, intent upon the interior life, ready to listen well to the secret inspirations of God and the exhortations of the true masters.”
We can glean several insights on the Holy Family’s prayer and relationship with God from the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ childhood. We may begin with the Presentation of Jesus in the temple. St. Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph, “when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, brought the child up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord”(2:22). Like every observant Jewish family, Jesus’ parents go up to the temple to consecrate the firstborn son to God and to offer sacrifice. Moved by fidelity to the law’s prescriptions, they set off from Bethlehem and go up to Jerusalem with Jesus, who is now forty days old. Instead of a one-year-old lamb, they present the offering of simple families; that is two young pigeons. The Holy Family’s pilgrimage is one of faith, of the offering of gifts, a symbol of prayer, and of encounter with the Lord, whom Mary and Joseph already see in the son Jesus.”
