Shalom!
Peace.
Thus did the Risen Lord greet his disciples.
Huddled in fear and overwhelmed by bitter disappointment.
The man who they thought was the messiah
has been crucified and lay dead in the tomb.
And then just out of nowhere, there He was in their midst – alive,
Saying to them: Peace! Shalom!
breathing into them and giving them the Holy Spirit.
Peace, that is not just the absence of war and conflict.
But peace that restores wholeness and completeness.
Peace that drives away fear and insecurities,
Peace that heals all wounds born out of conflicts.
Peace is the unity of all creation under God,
the unfolding of the universe
according to His will and in His time.
Shalom. Salaam. Salamat.
Salamat. Thank you!
Thank you Lord for sending your Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit blows over all creation as it regenerates itself every springtime,
as it renews itself with the dawn of each new day.
The Holy Spirit breathes life into couples
as they build a home and raise children for the future.
The Holy Spirit is alive in all people of good will
seeking to build a more just society
and making this world a better place.
The Holy Spirit is active in people reaching out
in love and service to others,
specially those in the margins and peripheries.
The Holy Spirit is here, now nudging me towards what is good, true and beautiful.
Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”
John 20:19-23