Again revealing his love for Fyodor Dostoevsky, Pope Francis reflected at the April 13 general audience about how different Christ's peace is from that the world offers.
Jesus is not going into a "triumphal Passover," the Pope said. "The only thing that he is concerned about in the preparation of his entry into Jerusalem is to ride 'a colt tied, on which no-one has ever yet sat.' This is how Christ brings peace into the world: through meekness and mildness, symbolized by that tethered colt, on which no-one had ever sat. No-one, because God’s way of doing things is different to that of the world."
Jesus spells out that his peace is different from the peace of the world (John 14:27), the Holy Father noted. "They are two different approaches: the way the world gives us peace, and the way God gives us peace. They are different."
The strategy of the world is to seek peace by force and with "various forms of imposition," he said. "This peace, in reality, is only an interval between wars: We are well aware of this."
Instead, God's peace follows the path of meekness and the cross. "It is taking responsibility for others. Indeed, Christ took on himself our evil, sin, and death. He took all of this upon himself. In this way he freed us. He paid for us."
Thus the peace that God gives is "born of self-giving." It is a "meek and courageous peace" but is in fact "difficult to accept."
The world's logic condemns God
He could have established peace in the world, bending the free but precarious heart of man by force of a higher power, but he chose not to: he respected our freedom.
Pope Francis recalled how Jesus invited his disciples to "let not your hearts be troubled." Because, "while worldly power leaves only destruction and death in its wake – we have seen this in recent days – his peace builds up history, starting from the heart of every person who welcomes us. Easter is therefore the true feast of God and humanity, because the peace that Christ gained on the cross in giving himself is distributed to us. Therefore, the Risen Christ, on Easter Day, appears to the disciples, and how does he greet them? “Peace be with you!” (Jn 20:19-21). This is the greeting of Christ victorious, the Risen Christ."
