St. Barnabas, Apostle
Acts 11:21-26,13:1-3 | Psalm 97:1-6 | Matthew 10:7-13
Whatever town or village you go into, ask for someone trustworthy and stay with him until you leave. As you enter his house, salute it, and if the house deserves it, let your peace descend upon it; if it does not, let your peace come back to you. (Matthew 10:11-13)
I see Muslims wishing each other salaam alaikum/alaikum salaam all the time. I don’t have any Jewish friends, but I understand that shalom aleichem/aleichem shalom is the appropriate exchange of greetings. In either case, “peace be upon you/upon you be peace” is the noble wish.
What do Christians say when arriving at someone’s home? Usually Hi! or Nice place! ?
Proffering peace is, for some reason, relegated by general Christian agreement to being a “mass-only thing”. No wonder the “sign of peace” is always an awkward occasion; we Catholics have so little practice wishing peace upon each other!
That may also explain the unpleasant incidents that erupted after mass in my parish on several occasions; the general belief seems to be that adopting a peaceful demeanor in this cruel world just gets you laughed at…and stomped on.
I think we could learn something from our Abrahamic cousins. Personally, I’ll start greeting people with “peace be with you” and homes with “peace upon this house and all who live here” and see what happens. Hopefully, it’ll serve as a gentle reminder to everyone involved that the peace of Christ should reign in our hearts every minute of every day, and not just within church confines.
Amen.