PEACE be with you.

"Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all."

2 Thessalonians 3:16 

Person after person made their way to the podium. They recounted memories and shared simple stories of the man they had known as a friend, brother, uncle and priest. It was a man that had so evidently impacted each of their lives in one way or another. There was laughter and there were tears, but the shared love of that priest and our Father filled the room. 

There in the casket, laid a man who had lived his life for God. And as I imagined where he might be now, I pictured the overwhelming peace he would surely  have. A man that stood up for his beliefs, it is certain that life here might not have always been easy. Only after his death did I realize he fought in a war, suffered depression, and dealt with the normal ups and downs of family life. An average man that lived his average life fully for God now left this world for a better place. And in the stillness of the casket, I knew he now would have such beautiful peace forever. 

I feel like we only get brief glimpses of peace here on earth. I do not know where peace is for you. Maybe it is out on the water or a cozy morning on the front porch. Maybe it is the safe haven of your home or the quiet moments you spend in the car. But, I do know that when you hear the word peace, something comes to mind. 

I think too often we are so busy rushing from one moment to the next that we let the chances for peace escape us. I have such a hard time letting go of whatever is coming next that I cannot even slow down to see what is right in front of me. However, I have discovered one true means to peace. 

Christ is my peace. 

I did not really understand this until I was asked to reflect on my experiences during adoration. As I looked back on all these moments I had the opportunity to encounter Jesus in the Eucharist, I knew one thing had always overwhelmed my heart. Peace. 

I have found that it is only in the light of Christ that I truly encounter peace in my life. No matter what is going on in my life or who I am with or what struggle I face when I bring it to God, it becomes His and my heart knows peace.

I can try as I might to control the whole world, but the truth is that will never be possible. And there is peace in knowing that I do not have to, but that He has the power to. I am able to lay everything down at His feet and trust that He will lead me to the best outcome.  Letting His love have control is freeing. 

Peace, is really just the slightest representation of heaven on earth. I think it is so beautiful that a man who so often brought the peace of Christ to others in the Eucharist, reconciliation, and anointing now gets to be with Him always. He helped hold Heaven on earth and now Heaven holds him. 

I believe firmly that tonight Father Rod is not only experiencing peace, but rejoicing with Christ. And I pray that someday the same may be true for each of us. But until then, I pray that each of us encounter true peace in a God that saves, leads, heals, shares, calls, shepherds, and changes lives. 

There is peace in Him, not because we know what is next or how we are going to do it necessarily, but because we have faith that He does.