Pope Leo is here to promote peace on earth. That’s a challenge to Christians first.

A Reflection for Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Find today’s readings here.

Pope Leo has spoken a lot about peace. “Peace” was the first word of his greeting the world from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica after his election. On his most recent apostolic visit to four countries in Africa, Pope Leo referred to himself as “a pilgrim of peace and unity.” When he arrived in Yaoundé, Cameroon, he was greeted with banners that read, “Welcome to the messenger of peace.” The country has experienced a brutal cultural conflict between Anglophones and Francophones since 2017.

Pope Leo made headlines at a meeting for peace at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in the northwestern part of Cameroon when he boldly stated: “Blessed are the peacemakers! But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”

But perhaps an even bolder message came later that day at Bamenda International Airport, not in the context of a meeting, but during Mass. Leo acknowledged that immense suffering and injustice inflicted on people can make them feel overwhelmed and powerless. Yet the Gospel is capable of changing social, political and economic corruption if people first obey God in their own lives: “Obeying God is not an act of submission that oppresses us or nullifies our freedom; on the contrary, obedience to God sets us free, because it means entrusting our lives to him and allowing his word to inspire our way of thinking and acting.”

Jesus’ parting words of peace to his friends and disciples came on the cusp of his violent and traumatic death: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.” We often think of peace in worldly terms: ending wars between nations, overcoming hatred between peoples, standing in solidarity and building fraternity. But the first and foremost peace Jesus offers is not worldly. It’s the realization of the infinite presence of God already existing in us, no matter what happens in the world. That doesn’t mean we stop working to establish peace on earth. On the contrary. When we begin to contemplate that ultimate reality, it frees us in ways that open new possibilities for worldly peace.

As Pope Leo preached that day in Bamenda, “Those who obey God rather than human beings and earthly ways of thinking rediscover their inner freedom, succeed in discovering the value of goodness and do not resign themselves to evil. They find anew their way in life and become builders of peace and fraternity.”