Peace be with you

 “Communication is part of God’s plan for us and an essential way to experience fellowship. Made in the image and likeness of our Creator, we are able to express and share all that is true, good, and beautiful. We are able to describe our own experiences and the world around us, and thus to create historical memory and the understanding of events. But when we yield to our own pride and selfishness, we can also distort the way we use our ability to communicate. This can be seen from the earliest times, in the Biblical stories of Cain and Abel and the Tower of Babel (cf. Gen 4:4-16; 11:1-9). The capacity to twist the truth is symptomatic of our condition, both as individuals and communities. On the other hand, when we are faithful to God’s plan, communication becomes an effective expression of our responsible search for truth and our pursuit of goodness.” (Pope Francis)

With those words taken from the 2018 World Communications Day Message of Pope Francis, I want to publicly express my gratitude to the LI Herald for offering me the opportunity to “communicate” an Easter Message to readers.

To speak of Easter is to speak of Peace. “Peace be with you” are in fact, the first recorded words spoken by Jesus to people after His Resurrection; spoken to people who after the Crucifixion might be described in terms of the popular song from the 1940 Rodgers and Hart musical Pal Joey as “bewitched, bothered, and bewildered,” but who in terms of Sacred Scripture are described as weeping, afraid, and doubting (cf. Saint John XX:11-26). It is to people such as these that Jesus says: “Peace be with you”!

Yes, it is to people such as these that Jesus, forty days after rising from the dead would say: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature” (Saint Mark XVI:15). And so it happened; people carried through their weeping, their fear, and their doubts by the Message of Jesus Risen from the dead, have in turn proclaimed that message to others and in that proclamation, carried them through the Black Death of the XIV century, the Potato Famine of the XIX century, the Great Depression of the 1930s, September 11th 2001, and yes: are carrying people through the coronavirus times of 2020!

With so much of the “spin cycle” in journalism stirring up anger, worry, anxiety, frustration and fear, Jesus Christ Risen today in this Easter Message brought to you by the LI Herald, breaks through that cycle and says: “Peace be with you”. “Peace be with you” who are weeping, not only because a loved one has died, but also because a wake and a Mass of Christian Burial for that loved one have been forbidden. “Peace be with you” who are afraid of a future without that loved one; afraid of an unknown employment future; afraid of an unknown financial future. “Peace be with you” who doubt you will ever see your deceased loved one again; doubting you will ever be able to rise from the ashes!

You will be able to rise from the ashes, because the One proclaiming this message of Peace, is Risen truly Risen! Trust in Him and you too will rise again! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Father Douglas Arcoleo is the pastor at the Our Holy Redeemer Church, in Freeport. You can watch masses online at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4P_2WY7kixLjDepa--Ha0w