Sunday, April 28, 2019

The Shalom of God, incarnated for us, dead-enders...Part 2


A Rabbi from Texas has drawn the following distinctions between Shalom and peace:
One can dictate peace; shalom is a mutual agreement. Peace is a temporary pact; shalom is a permanent agreement. One can make a peace treaty: shalom is the condition of peace.
Peace can be negative, the absence of commotion: shalom is positive, the presence of serenity. Peace can be partial; shalom is whole. Peace can be piecemeal; shalom is complete.
So in that mercy-full greeting of shalom The Risen Christ wishes His followers everything that really matters. The following will add still more meaning to The Savior’s greeting.  Shalom also contains within it the following: "wholeness, completeness, soundness, health, safety and prosperity. It also carries with it the implication of permanence. When one reflects on all of that, and it will take a lifelong reflection just to scratch the surface, we now have a lifelong goal presented to us.  We are to see that in Jesus, The Christ is The Shalom of God, incarnate in human flesh. To be seen, touched, embraced and eventually become our spiritual food.  The more we encounter the Jesus of the Gospels,  the reality of Who He is will slowly and gently dawn on us. As we are drawn into reverencing the mystery of we have been chosen to be, we will be led into an ever new and evolving understanding of the presence of The Risen Christ in all of creation. To quote St. Francis  "There is nothing profane for him/her who knows how to see."   The lenses of Shalom provides us with a God sighting.  In every person place event action of our moment-to-moment daily journey is hidden, for us to discover, The Shalom of God. 

Is this not a whole new dimension to who we are, and Who we are called to be?   I go back to one of my favorite quotes, "O God help me to believe the truth about myself, no matter how beautiful it is."  All the shalom you will ever need dwells within our depths.  It is not until we are stopped in our tracks, in the dead ends of our lives, does the reality of The Paschal Mystery become for us a lived experience. We, too will have to face our denials, our rejections, our scourgings, our crucifyings leading to our dead ends.  To hear  My Shalom is my gift to you, right here where you are at in the darkness of your dead end.  Heaven on earth!!!  

(To be continued)

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