Day 4
Peace Be With You
The first gift of the Risen Christ
c. 1609
Grace to ask for
Lord, give me the peace that the world cannot give.
"Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side... Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.""
John 20:19–21
Composition of Place
The disciples are locked in a room, afraid. The doors are shut. Then Jesus is simply there — standing among them, showing the wounds, speaking peace.
Points for Meditation
Through locked doors
The Risen Christ does not wait for the disciples to unlock the door. He comes through it. The doors of fear, shame, confusion, grief — he enters through them. Whatever you have locked yourself behind, he can enter there. He does not require you to be healed before he comes. He comes to begin the healing.
He showed them the wounds
The Risen Christ keeps his wounds. Not hidden, not erased — shown, offered as evidence of who he is and what he has done. The glorified body still carries the marks of love. This is an enormous comfort: what you have suffered is not left behind in the Resurrection. It is taken up and transformed.
"As the Father sent me..."
The peace he gives is not meant to be kept. It is given so that it can be given. "As the Father sent me, I am sending you." The Exercises do not end in the retreat house. They end in the world — in the particular places God is sending you, to do the particular things he has prepared for you to do.
Colloquy
Ask for the peace of Christ — not the absence of difficulty, but the presence of Someone who has overcome the worst difficulty. Ask for the courage to receive your mission: the specific sending that has been clarified through these Exercises.
Remain in silence for a few minutes.
Do not rush to the next exercise.