The assumption in today’s reflection verse hinges on why the apostles ask for increased faith. What do they think is missing? Fr. Rolheiser suggests that we, like the apostles, live inside an anxious peace. They are failing to see the “big picture” of life. When speaking of peace, there are two narratives. The peace that the world can give to us is not a negative or a bad peace. It is real and good, but it is fragile and inadequate. It is fragile because it can easily be taken away from us. As we experience it ordinarily in our lives, peace is generally predicated on feeling healthy, loved, and secure. But all of these are fragile and things that affected the disciples. This type of peace can change radically with one visit to the doctor, an unexpected dizzy spell, sudden chest pains, the loss of a job, the rupture of a relationship, the suicide of a loved one, or multiple kinds of betrayal that can blindside us. We try mightily to take measures to guarantee the health, security, and trustworthiness of our relationships, but we live with a lot of anxiety, knowing these are always fragile. Jesus offers a peace that is not fragile and already beyond fear and anxiety and does not depend on feeling healthy, secure, and loved in this world. His peace is the absolute assurance that we are connected to the source of life in such a way that nothing, absolutely nothing, can ever be removed: not bad health, not betrayal by someone, indeed, not even our own sin. We are unconditionally loved and held by the source of life itself, and nothing can change that. Nothing can change God’s unconditional love for us. That’s the meta-narrative, the “big picture” of life that the disciples and us are missing. We need this picture of life to keep our perspective during the ups and downs of our lives. We need this assurance. We live with constant anxiety because we sense that our health, security, and relationships are fragile and that our peace can quickly disappear. Let us leave this time together knowing that we need to more deeply appropriate Jesus’ farewell gift to us: I leave you a peace that no one can take from you: Know that you are loved and held unconditionally.