The Bond of Peace

 

St. Paul encourages us to live beyond what separates us, “With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:2-3).  In Paul’s letter, the phrase ‘bond of peace’ seems especially important.  A bond joins securely, forms a close attachment that’s not easily separated or broken.  In the context of Ephesians, it seems to be the bonding agent that pulls together Paul’s other characteristics of the Christian life.  It’s strong enough to hold in solidarity the diversity and complexity of human relations that comprise Church – humanity.  What better glue than a warm, soft blanket of God’s peace gently and securely enfolding and bonding us together as we seek to grant mercy to others.

Today is the feast of St. Matthew Apostle and Evangelist and little is known about him, other than that he was a tax collector and in other synoptic gospels referred to as Levi.  The story of Matthew’s call is found in Matthew 9:9.   

Jesus was strolling by some tax collectors and various evildoers one day and turned to one of them and said, "Follow me."  And Matthew got up from what he was doing, presumably retiring from the position forever and started to follow Jesus.  Then a meal with “many tax collectors and sinners” became the occasion for Jesus to define His mission.

Over the objection of the Pharisees to such a gathering, Jesus portrayed Himself as a physician come to care for the sick and colors in this portrait with the pointed remark, “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

The implication is that the Pharisees were self-righteous and so they weren’t capable of responding to Jesus’ call to repentance.  In their own eyes, they had no need for a savior because they became “right with God” through their own efforts.  No need for the doctor here!

How much of our daily energy goes into trying to make ourselves “right with God?”  Like avoiding a visit to the doctor’s office when we are ill (often devising our own treatments), we seem to avoid the Divine Physician as well.  Consider the difference in the attitude of the great saints who know ever more deeply their need for God for the slightest good activity of each day!  We can think of St. Therese who delighted in her own faults and weaknesses as places which would “draw” the love of God toward her in her littleness.

Matthew was a man reviled by all; a man, in all likelihood, mired in sin and in the exploitation of the poor and powerless—in short, a man who had it made in the ancient world.  But such was the power of the voice of Christ; such was the joy of the service of Jesus that at one word from Him, this man was willing to give up everything.

We should recall this each time we drag our feet in one form of service or another.  Each time the Lord asks us to smile at someone, speak to someone, have coffee with someone, feed someone, help in any way that lies within our power; we should recall this man who gave up all to follow Jesus.  He gave it up at a word and left all to be with Jesus.  Surely, we can follow with a service less drastic, with a task much less onerous.  Surely, when we remember what the great saints and apostles sacrificed for us, we can afford the little sacrifice of some of our time.

Like the apostles, we too have been singled out to have a role in furthering the Kingdom of God.  What part we are intended to play may be hidden not only from us, but also from others.  It is, with certainty, a role that God has equipped us well to play.  May we then, like Matthew, accept the invitation of Christ who calls us to be His friend, His evangelist, to spread the Good News.