Second Sunday of Easter – A
April 12, 2026 5:00pm
Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton
“Peace be with you”
Three times in today’s gospel Jesus says, “Peace be with you.”
From this and other passages, it is clear that peace is important to the risen Christ. He wants us to be at peace within ourselves and with one another.
Right now, there is no peace in a number of areas of our world. Our own country is involved in a war with Iran.
Pope Leo – A Vigil for Peace
Pope Leo has called for today to be a vigil for peace.
Especially over the last month, he has spoken about the morality of warfare – what is required for a war to be moral and what is not moral in warfare.
On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo said: “I am asking all people of goodwill to always search for peace and not for violence, to reject war, especially a war which many people have said is unjust...
“Today, there has also been the threat against the entire people of Iran. And this is truly unacceptable.
“There are certainly issues of international law here, but even more, it is a moral question concerning the good of the people as a whole. We have a situation in the Middle East…which is only provoking more hatred throughout the world.
“I would invite all citizens of all the countries to contact the authorities…to ask them, to tell them to work for peace and reject war and violence.” And with that, Pope Leo calls for today to be a vigil for peace.
The Just War Teaching
He was speaking with the tradition of our Catholic Just War Teaching.
This teaching finds its origin in the writings of Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas Aquinas. The teaching emphasizes that the Church sees evils and injustices arising from warfare.
It teaches that all governments and citizens are obliged to work to avoid war. If war cannot be avoided, then there are certain moral principles to guide us in this Just War Doctrine.
But we need to be clear that the Church is teaching about defensive wars – a country resorting to military action for its legitimate defense. The Church teaches that an aggressive act of warfare always seems to be immoral and not justified.
I am going to highlight briefly just three of the six conditions that are needed for a war to be morally just. I hope this will be helpful in forming our own conscience and judgments.
The Just War Teaching
Number 1. Before resorting to war, all other means to deal with the aggression or threat must have been tried.
This means that diplomacy and negotiation must have first been sincerely and fully tried. And they must be found to be ineffective or to have failed before engaging in warfare.
Number 2. The use of arms must not produce evils that are graver than the evil to be avoided.
The idea is that engaging in war will inevitably bring about the loss of life and human suffering and this is especially true with the power of today’s weaponry. To be moral and just, warfare must nor bring about evils that are greater than the evil to be avoided.
And Number 3. For a war to be just, non-combatants or civilians must not be targeted.
There must be respect for the lives of private citizens. Any act of war that is directed at cities or other areas where many people live is immoral and merits condemnation.
Conclusion
As I said, they are three of the principles of our Church’s Just war Doctrine – conditions required for war to be morally just.
I hope that this helps us in forming our own conscience about this moral issue. We pray for peace – for a peaceful solution of the war between our country and Iran and of other wars going on right now.
Today Jesus’ says, “Peace be with you,” and then, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” He sends us as messengers and makers of peace.
