“Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, ‘Peace be with you!’” (John 20:19)
When we think of the apostles gathered together, we conjure up the icon of the Last Supper. It crests every Royal Gate of our icon screens; or perhaps we think of them with the flames of fire above each, receiving the Holy Spirit on the great day of Pentecost. Maybe it would help us more to consider what it was that drew them together on that first Sunday of a new beginning for the universe, assembling to share their anguish over what happened to the Master and what may just be waiting for them. They had a common problem. We usually have personal reasons for communal comfort. It may be that we don’t think of one another assembled for Divine Liturgy, or for the possibility that we can or even should care to help each other. So much the shame.
The apostles came not expecting a blessing, yet they were overwhelmed by the Source of all blessings, Christ Himself. Do we have the faith to attend the sacred services expecting a grace refreshment and a spiritual uplift? Or do we consider the form such blessings come in? ‘Peace!’ He said to them. Is it what they wanted? Or felt they needed? Could not one of them have quoted the Bible they all knew so well: “Oh, that I had wings like a dove….” They must have had their own solutions to the trauma they were experiencing. If He could not defend them or make them invincible, then He could spirit them away to Galilee, their home grounds. But all He offered was peace—and indeed, it was all they needed.
So it is for us—or should be. We may come to church praying for a better or different job, inspiration to pass some exam, healing for a loved one, maybe an opportunity to leave our situation and find a new life for ourselves. What is it Christ offers us? The same gift of peace. It implies that what is troubling us is the unsettling state of our souls. All the ingredients for a wholesome, complete life are within us. We may be praying for the wrong things—escape, outside help, a windfall of funds—none of them will be of spiritual benefit. What we need is salvation.
And that peace was felt and shared by all ten [Judas committing suicide; Thomas elsewhere]. Yes, of course it came from Jesus, but the Spirit permeated the group. So it is with the congregation of the faithful. When the celebrant faces the people of God and offers them the peace of Christ, it should be felt throughout the assembly. Lord forbid that we become a random gathering of individuals, each absorbed by his or her own interests. How lonely are the crowds in a mall or on any city street nowadays. What has cell phones wrought! I dread the day when our churches will have signs posted in the vestibules: KINDLY SHUT OFF ALL CELL PHONES AND VOICE RECORDERS. May it be that regardless of how much our communicants conform to the standards of secular society, they will always realize that we belong to one another in Christ, we are all fixed on the Kingdom of God, and we are all committed to sharing the same Holy Spirit Who bonds us into a precious unity with the Holy Trinity.