May 20, 2001

After a young mother lost her husband in a tragic accident, she was greeted with a host of problems, including the loss of her house and the breakup of her family. In the midst of her troubles, she remained calm, poised and at peace. Asked how that was possible in light of the darkness around her, she said "The chaos is around me, not in me!"

Two artists were asked to paint a portrait of peace. One painted a breathtaking pastoral scene with rolling hills and majestic mountains and a quiet lake in the foreground. A lake without a ripple on its surface. "That," said the artist, "is peace!"

The other artist painted a similar setting, but the conditions were quite different. The sky was black and full of angry clouds. Fierce winds were raging as evidenced by tipped and bent trees. The lake appeared choppy and treacherous. A bad storm was obviously in progress. In the foregrounds, the artist painted a small bird in flight, going on with life as though the storm was not there. "That," said the artist, "is peace!"

Both artists properly did what they were asked to do, but the second artist best depicted the peace that Jesus referred to in the Gospel.

The word peace, when uttered in a setting of tragedy and difficulty and suffering, carries with it the idea of relief, the idea that conflict, turmoil, and discomfort have come to an end. We have come to associate peace with the atmosphere of a cemetery.

It was because of this association that Jesus added a note of clarification when speaking of peace in the Gospel. He did not want a "cemetery" peace to be confused with the peace he was offering. Since he knew that his disciples would experience anything but tranquility in the life ahead of them, he knew it was important to provide an inner peace, a peace that could be maintained despite the chaos and storms raging around them.

SO THE QUESTION: DESCRIBE WAYS IN WHICH PEACE AND QUIET CAN BE A CURSE AND NOT A BLESSING.

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