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Peace Be With You

Here we are in the second week of Easter listening to the first words of Jesus as he appears to His disciples saying,  "Peace be with you".  He doesn't say it just once, but twice.  Then he said, "Receive the Holy Spirit, whose sins you forgive are forgiven them and whose sins you retain will be retained."

Isn't it amazing, that we too have received the Holy Spirit and that each of us has the power to forgive.  I think each of us has our own idea of what this means and somehow connect this to the sacrament of reconciliation.  However, what I understand now is, if we do not forgive those who we believe have offended us, the anger and resentfulness is retained within us.  This is not good.

When we learn to forgive, it is then we are freed, it is then we find the peace Jesus wants us to experience. we become who we really are. We are the body of Christ.  We are receiving the body of Christ as bread that gives us life as His body.  From that we must realize who we are when we are confronted with people who are not of the same mind as we are or whose behavior does not conform to our beliefs and prejudices. It is when we are at peace and receive the Eucharist, Jesus wants us to be merciful, not condemning and to become who we really are.

PEACE BE WITH YOU! 

Deacon Robert Lemay

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