Jesus said to the crowd one day, He said, "Blessed are you for your eyes have seen what they have seen and your ears have heard what they have heard." And that was true, right, because Jesus was right there in their presence. We get the opportunity to read the gospel. Blessed are we that we get to read the gospel. There's been millions and millions and millions of people throughout history who never, not once in their lives, got a chance to read the gospel. And I think sometimes it's important that we take a moment. We come here, we do this every day, reflect on the gospel. But just being able to do that is an incredible blessing. Today's reading is from the Gospel of John 20:19-23. "On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you.' When He had said this, He showed them His hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. And Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so, I send you.' And when He said this, He breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.'"

Is there a word or a phrase or an idea that jumps out at you today? It's a fabulous reading. There's so many things. Jesus comes, and He stands among them. They recognize Him not just as a spiritual being, but there in the flesh, the resurrected body of Jesus. And that's incredibly powerful, incredibly powerful. And of course, His greeting is, "Peace be with you." I think to myself like, "How much peace do we actually experience? And do we actually seek it? And how easily, readily are we willing to give up our peace?" Sometimes you'd be out in public, and you'll see someone losing their mind over something very, very small. And you think, "Okay, they gave up their peace for this small, almost insignificant thing." And maybe they didn't have peace before that, and it's just they're acting out of a constant agitation or constant anxiety. But let's ask ourselves, "Okay, do we have the peace that Jesus gave us, gave as a gift?" He said, "Peace be with you." And that's an incredible gift. And what have we done with the gift? Where is the gift? Sometimes someone gives us a gift, and you put it somewhere, and then you think, "Where--" a little bit later, you think, "Where's that gift? Where'd I put that gift." And this is one of those instances.

Jesus has given us this gift of peace. His life, His death, His resurrection, His promises make peace for humanity possible. But where have we put the gift? I think it's time we found it and established it firmly in our hearts. And then to go out into the world-- and I give you a little bit of homework, a little bit of an exercise. I like these fun exercises. They help me live the gospel in new ways, in creative ways each day. But to really take some time and really get into a peaceful place, and then go out into the world and be very mindful of that peace. Be very mindful of anything that tries to rob you of that peace, anything that disturbs that peace, anything that increases that peace, anything that diminishes that peace, just pay really close attention to that piece and how that piece is affected by being with different people. You see, you'll be with certain people, and you can settle into that peace with those people. And then you'll be with other people, and that peace is like, it's threatened. Just by being in their presence, that peace is threatened. And so Jesus said, "Peace be with you." And then He said it again. "Peace be with you." Let's find the peace He gave us and let's take that peace out into the world. God bless you. Have a great day and remember, be bold, be Catholic.