Readings: Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Psalms 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8; Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23; John 14:23-29

Today we are brought back to the night of the Last Supper. We take our places with the Twelve Apostles, gathered around the sacred table with Christ, Our Lord. We listen to his words, which are both mysterious and glorious. It is Christ’s last meal with his closest followers. He wants to leave them a parting gift. What is it? What does Christ want to bequeath to his Apostles at the Last Supper? Peace. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” And what does he mean by peace? Not what we usually think: “Not as the world gives do I give it to you.”

Christ’s peace is lasting. It is interior peace of heart, which overflows into peace in families, in communities, in entire nations. It is the peace that comes from knowing without any doubt whatsoever that we are loved by him. It is the peace that comes from knowing without any doubt whatsoever that whenever we offend him, he will always be ready to forgive us. It is the peace that comes from knowing without any doubt whatsoever that we have a purpose in life, a mission – the very mission that Christ himself has given us: to spread his Kingdom. As today’s Psalm puts it, to “make his way known upon earth; among all nations, his salvation.