When we have people who are so different from us, and whom we dislike tremendously, St Paul reminds us today that Jesus the Christ brings those, who used to be so far apart from us, to be very close. Christ is the peace between us, and has broken down the barrier which used to keep us apart.

The psalmist echoes this in the response of today's psalm: "The Lord speaks peace to his people." Oh, how we long for peace between warring peoples and countries, even more so for inner peace within us.

Therefore, we need to be ready, like the servants in the Gospel waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast, ready to open the door as soon as he comes and knocks. Our hearts and minds, in fact our whole person, should be predisposed to peace. When we are ready for peace, we are like those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. He will put on an apron, sit them down at table and wait on them, because they are well-disposed towards peace and harmony.

Pope St John Paul II once said, "Peace will be the last word of history." However we look at it, that lonely cry for peace and forgiveness from the Cross can never be silenced. We trust and pray for everlasting peace in our hearts, and that the same peace also be achieved in the world.