Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church
The second candle in the Advent wreath stands for peace. Peace, in the ways we tend to use the word in our culture, refers to the fact that we agree with each other, or at least, we "agree to disagree" (aka "Let's just never ever bring up this subject again..."). We use it to refer to having harmonious relationships with family members, friends, and politically, with other nations or between political parties.
This kind of peace is not quite the kind of peace we seek in Jesus' coming. Harmonious, non-violent relationships in which we agree with each other are, indeed, good, but in today's gospel Jesus seems to be pushing us beyond the kind of peace that means simple agreement (or agreeing to disagree). Here he depicts two groups of children playing, or more to the point arguing, over how best to play-act. One group says that we should act merrily and dance; another group wants to mourn as though they were at a funeral. Jesus' point is that there is no way to come to consensus about this - mourning and dancing do not seem to belong together. Likewise, the people complained that John the Baptist fasted too much, while they complain that Jesus feasts too much. There seems to be no space for there to be consensus between these opposing groups.
Except that Jesus refuses to play the game. Neither group is wholly right or wrong. Instead, Jesus says that "wisdom is vindicated by her works." In other words, sometimes it is necessary to laugh, other times it is necessary to mourn. The bad action here is NOT whether a person either dancing or mourning, but whether a person is focusing on trying to be "right" without recognizing that the other group might also be "right." The bad actions are ones that focus on human actions, which always stand the potential of being wrong actions, no matter how "right" we try to be. Thus, the Old Testament reading (Isaiah 48:17-19) reminds us that we should follow God, now humanity.
So, Jesus' peace is the kind that is broad and deep. The way we pass the peace in the mass actually gives a clue to what Jesus' peace means for us. The priest always quotes Jesus saying, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you." Then we pass the peace with each other, and that peace is specifically in reference to Jesus' peace, NOT to our own peace. I always wonder if others in the church take the time to marvel at this simple gesture: for here we are in church shaking each others' hands. The people with whom I pass the peace are often complete strangers; I have no way of knowing whether they share my particular political views or economic habits, or even whether we would be friends outside of church. All that is beside the point; we are offering Jesus' peace to each other. That is to say, we are acknowledging to each other that our secular political commitments, our daily living habits, matter far less than the fact that both of us are followers of Jesus.
The distinctiveness of Jesus' peace becomes even more powerful if it is someone I know. Even if I don't "feel" peaceful with someone I'm shaking hands with because of disagreements or difficulties, I am expected to recognize that Jesus has a kind of peace to offer to everyone, that I, as his disciple can also offer, even if it is not "my" way of being peaceful. In offering a gesture of peace, I am also learning to be humble and recognize that my view is not necessarily right, because I, too, am only human.
As we wait for Jesus' coming, let us reflect on how we might become humble, and make our own lives part of Jesus' peace.
- Jana M. Bennett