A Note from Peter

Standing behind the altar is a place of great comfort to me. It's not just breaking bread, but it's been that way since I was an acolyte. Growing up, it was one of my 'happy places' along with the garage in which I would play road hockey most days after school. In spring of 2013, I traveled to Las Vegas with a group of college friends, and I found another happy place I will never forget the first time I woke up at 5:30 am Vegas time (8:30 am EST) and walked down the strip. The sun was just coming up over the mountains, the only sound was the brooms of street cleaners and the few buses that were out then. It's hard to explain the peace I have found on those early morning walks, but I sometimes go back to that place when I stand behind the altar some Sundays. I will close my eyes, see the dirty and trash-ridden pavement in front of my feet, feel the cool air and warm sun mixing on my face, hear the quietness in my heart as my heart mimics beats I heard the night before.

Sunday's terrorist attack won't change that. I plan on returning there next month, and I hope I can give blood somewhere the first day I land. This is all part of following Jesus on the way. We don't stay still. We don't stop living. We continue to risk being broken open, no matter where we are, in order to offer ourselves to a world that needs our love more than ever. I'm not much for the idea of a cosmic struggle between good and evil, but make no mistake: as Christians, we are tasked with joining God in bringing justice and peace and healing to the world. Be about that work, and don't stop. Work for sensible gun control. Give blood. Listen to and love your enemies. Don't tire in doing good. Break bread with each other.