Acid Pouring
23 November 2017
Some years ago a woman in the parish that I was serving in told me “that you don’t know who you are until you have had acid poured all over you.”
She was referring to an incident of betrayal that had deeply affected her. She was a woman of great substance, accomplished in many matters, married happily for years and with ten children if memory serves me correctly.
The Gospel today speaks about such “acid pouring:”
Yes, a time is coming, when your enemies will raise fortifications all round you when they will encircle you and hem you in on every side.
Jesus says, however, that this “acid pouring” is a time of opportunity:
If you in your turn had only understood on this day the message of peace!
The “acid pouring” is difficult – no doubt. But it is an opportunity for a deeper encounter with the Lord – our “Man of Peace.”
As Jesus rise from the tomb this day, he offers you that peace; a peace that the world cannot give; peace that I myself cannot give.
In human thinking, peace is the fruit of justice. In God thinking, peace is a presence. Peace is a person.
Jesus Christ is within us. He’s there for the taking.
“If only we understand, on this day of our lives, the message of peace.”
Amen.