by Chase Hawkins
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This past April I went with a few friends around midnight on Holy Thursday to pray the steps. Some people were discouraged because it was raining and lightning occasionally lit up the sky behind the beautiful statue of Our Lady on top of the church. I, however, found the storm to be an added touch to my experience. I found peace as I prayed. I found peace amongst the chaos of the storm. I took a picture from the bottom of the steps and posted it to Instagram with the caption, “Through the storm, He is Lord” – a tribute to my favorite praise and worship song, “Cornerstone” by Hillsong.
Exactly one month ago, I was at work on my lunch break (I coach gymnastics, so my break is simply five minutes eating BBQ chicken pizza in the gym’s café). As I waited on my food, I sifted through my email. I saw an unread message from earlier in the morning from the St. Margaret of York newsletter. It informed me that our parish’s Parochial Vicar – Fr. James – had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I was shocked. I have gotten to know Fr. James through youth group and liturgical involvement, so this news was especially disheartening.
Fr. James is one of the holiest and most empathetic people I know. Being a young priest, he is popular especially amongst the youth of the parish. He is known to be involved with many youth group activities such as Cincinnati Reds games, Little Miami River canoeing, go-karting, etc. Some of my greatest memories are eating $1 dollar hot dogs with Fr. James at the Reds game, watching Fr. James jump out of a canoe to sink other canoes, and listening to Fr. James smack talk me in go-karting.
Today, a month after his diagnosis was released to the parish, he finally returned to concelebrate Mass. He was like a celebrity as the parishioners watched in awe and with smiling faces as Fr. James humbly walked down the aisle. He gave a speech at the end of Mass thanking us for our prayers and giving us an update. He is young and healthy, so his case is not like most other pancreatic cancer cases. The biggest thing he emphasized was that he never felt a sense of impending doom. He said, “If God is calling me home, none of us can stop that, so why worry? If he’s not calling me home, then why should we worry?” He said with all honesty, that since his diagnosis, he has felt nothing but a great sense of peace. Peace.
In today’s second reading from St. Paul to the Ephesians, it reads:
Brothers and sisters:
In Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the blood of Christ.
For he is our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh, abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims, that he might create in himself one new person in place of the two, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile both with God, in one body, through the cross, putting that enmity to death by it. He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
St. Paul mentions “peace” four times in the reading. But what I noticed wasn’t necessarily that the focus was on the peace itself, but that it was on the origin of our peace. Brace yourself for a grammar lesson: St. Paul shows that Jesus is the source of our peace through the use of prepositions. We receive peace “through his flesh”, “in one body”, “through the cross”, “through him”. These phrases show us just where this peace comes from.
But peace isn’t just a quiet or relaxed atmosphere or state-of-mind. Peace is finding silence and relaxation amidst the loudness of our lives and our world. I found peace on those Mt. Adams steps as the rain beat down, the lightning struck, and the thunder roared. Fr. James found peace as his body attacks itself. God does not only provide peace in the quiet of our lives. He provides peace in the storms. “Through the storm, He is Lord…”
No matter our trials today, let us find that peace that Fr. James experiences. Whether we are suffering from pancreatic cancer, struggling with our girlfriend/boyfriend, or trying to balance our chaotic schedules, let us pray for peace. Not only in our lives, but in our world.
-Chawkins.
"Cornerstone" by Hillsong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izrk-erhDdk