The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake. Psalm 23:1-3

The peace of Christ is centered on understanding God who is at the center and in the middle and in the exterior of all of life, from the moment of conception until the last natural breath we take on earth. The peace of Christ is the discovering the fullness of life within the Body of Christ where we find true peace and joy in our call to vocation.

I am not in control—my ego desires control. Obedience is the fruit of loving and knowing another. My control comes out strongest when I place myself as king over others. My obedience flourishes when I spend time being with and listening to the other in my life. When I know that God is the source of all and “I lack nothing” it is here I find peace.

I have a mission—growing up I wanted to play second base for the Dodgers. I wanted to be a United States Marine. I wanted to bicycle across Europe. I wanted to do a lot of things. From the big dreams and fantastical desires to the mundane choices in daily life, none of these things bring peace separated from the “mission” God calls us to live. We all desire the “quiet waters” of life. I found the storms of life lessening the more I stood in relationship with God. Saying yes to the invitation is never easy but only this, God’s mission for each of us, brings peace. What is that mission?…to be a saint.

I have a destination—In the musical, “The Man of La Mancha” Don Quixote sings: “To be willing to march into hell, for a heavenly cause…” Peace is finding the cause knowing the Spirit of God “leads me” in the great quest of life. I have a destination that is not a static place but an ever moving gift, growing and drawing us forward even in the most difficult, the hellish, moments in life. As he sings: “and I know if I’ll only be true to this glorious quest, that my heart will lie peaceful in rest.”

I have a family/Church—We all have biological family. We too, as we many times we say and hear the phrase “Brothers and Sisters in Christ” have a family of Church where being baptized into God’s holy family. In both the biological and Church family we understand in different ways how family is complicated. In these joyous and painful relationships it is easy to forget the connected-ness that runs deep in our unity with one another. God’s call to family is to find rest and peace, “He makes me lie down in green pastures”. And this can and is always hard. Because the “green pastures” are not without weeds and thistles of sin. They aren’t absent the pebbles, stones, discord and suffering. But these pastures are also filled with love and hope. Finding our families within the Church is also a mysterious journey meant to feed our mission within the Church. For instance, I have served in the Worldwide Marriage Encounter movement for over 15 years…they are my family. I have been celebrating Mass with the Eucharistic Missionaries of the Most Holy Trinity (MESST) for almost my entire priesthood, they are my family. I discovered the gift of healing in visiting the sick and homebound and how life giving it is for my priesthood. If you had asked me the day after my ordination if these three ministry would have been important to me…I would have said “no”. Yet these missions with my larger mission of priesthood, reminds me: it is discovering and rediscovering our place in the family of God that gives us life.

I am called —by name—is the greatest mystery of life. God calls us by name. All priests can do what I do, but only I can be who I am. The uniqueness of mission invites me to be “for his name’s sake”, obedient to the will of the Father, to the mission of the Church and in my small, yet significant place in this missionary journey, to focus on God’s plan…the salvation of the world.
“The Lord is my shepherd” for God calls us, watches over us, and names us in love.
God Bless
Fr. Mark