Pope Francis: Ask the Lord for the gift of peace

In his Sunday Regina Caeli address, Pope Francis reflected on Jesus’ words to the disciples at the Last Supper in the Gospel reading from John: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.”

Speaking to an estimated 25,000 pilgrims gathered on a bright day in St. Peter's Square in Rome, the pope noted that Jesus also makes a point to add, "Not as the world gives do I give it to you” (John 14:27).

"What is this peace that the world does not know and the Lord gives us?" Pope Francis asked.

"This peace is the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit of Jesus. It is the presence of God in us, it is God’s 'power of peace,'" he explained. "It is He, the Holy Spirit, who disarms the heart and fills it with serenity. It is He, the Holy Spirit, who loosens rigidity and extinguishes the temptations to attack others. It is He, the Holy Spirit, who reminds us that there are brothers and sisters beside us, not obstacles or adversaries.

"It is He, the Holy Spirit, who gives us the strength to forgive, to begin again, to set out anew because we cannot do this with our own strength. And it is with Him, with the Holy Spirit, that we become men and women of peace," Pope Francis said.

“This is the source of the peace Jesus gives us,” he added. “For no one can leave others peace if they do not have it within themselves. No one can give peace unless that person is at peace.”