First day after the resurrection. Here, after 33 years of absence, the Son returns to the Father. Home again. Who will express the joy of their meeting after such a long separation, the need for a celebrated presence that is not disturbed by anything and no one anymore? Father, Son and Spirit – finally are together. And it would be seem that the custom of people – these three Divine Persons should finally enjoy themselves. However, the Gospels record that almost immediately after the greeting, the Son again “slipped away” back to the earth. He talked to Mary Magdalene in the morning; in the afternoon He traveled for several hours with His disciples to Emmaus; in the evening He still had a time to meet in the Upper Room.
Jesus entered the Upper Room on the evening of the first day of the week, where He celebrated the first Mass and said goodbye with His disciples. He stood in the center and, as reported by a witness there, wished them peace. He said, Do you have anything to eat? They gave Him a piece of roasted fish – the Galilean national dish. And as He ate, they felt the fear left their hearts. Peace was slowly coming in this place – the only reality He had given them as a gift. Returning from eternity, He took nothing else with Him, but “the peace”. This word is unreadable for many people. The word “peace” is more often on the lips of politicians and propagandists than of Christians. And yet – behind this word is hidden the first and most important gift from God that Jesus brought to man on the day of His resurrection. This gift must be a result from discussions between the Son and the Father.
The world hidden behind the words: Peace be with you is real. This peace given by Jesus to His disciples on Easter evening, it can also be shared by all people in their days. He brings the same gift during the celebration of the Eucharist and it descends upon each one as much as he opens up. The peace must come in the midst of wars below and above, in marriages and in families, in environments and among nations, if they are to survive and to develop. And it will not come into the world except only through human hearts.