True peace can only come from Christ.
“Peace is my
farewell to you, my peace is my gift to you,” Christ says. “I do not
give it to you as the world gives peace.” (Jn 14,27) We have to
understand these words well, accepting them first of all by faith, and
then analyzing them with all the resources of our God-given human
powers.
We should never depart from this peace of Christ. All our
efforts to come up with an estimation of peace for our personal health
or for social, economic or political well-being, should always be
inspired by this peace Christ gives us. It cannot be any other way.
Christ is the prince of peace. He knows how to tackle any
and all causes of trouble, conflict and war. He meets them head-on,
not escaping from them, and in fact converts these causes of evil and
war into paths to goodness and human redemption.
He goes straight to the very core of evil, the malice that
can spring in the hearts of men, the primal source of all our
troubles, conflicts and wars. And he does the ultimate to annul the
effects of evil, by assuming them himself, killing them with his own
death, and conquering them with his own resurrection. He always has
the last word.
While in pursuing and trying to gain peace we may have to
do some practical and temporary things, we should never forget that
the ultimate source of peace is Christ himself who is God who became
man for our sake. We should always go to him, praying and asking for
his help. We should never set him aside.
Following him will indeed involve effort and sacrifice,
but we have to look at the bigger picture, the long-range vision. We
will be asked to deny ourselves and to carry the cross, we will be
asked to undertake a continuing ascetical struggle, but all these come
with the territory.
The peace Christ gives us is the peace he himself won for
us on the cross. It is a peace that comes with some war, with some
violence—against our weaknesses, our temptations, and sins in all
their forms and variety.
He himself warned us about this. “From the days of John
the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and
the violent take it by force.” (Mt 11,12)
We should be wary when we are presented with an easy
program of life that can give us some instant advantages but will
certainly lead us nowhere but disaster. This is the kind of peace the
world gives us, as our Lord hinted. Its perks and advantages are
actually only ephemeral, short-lived and shallow.
To have peace in each one of us and later in the world, the kind that
abides and lasts, and that leads to the everlasting peace in heaven,
we need to wage war here on earth, a constant war that goes on until
death.
This is part of our human condition. Our weakened, wounded
nature requires it, not to mention, the objective reality that we have
enemies all around us. Our Catechism tells us of the seven capital
sins with which we have to contend with all throughout our life. They
are: pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony and sloth.
These capital sins are embedded in us. No use denying
them. We have to acknowledge their existence and learn how to deal
with them.
Besides, St. Paul also tells us about the formidable
spiritual enemies around us. ¨For our wrestling is not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities and power, against the rulers of
the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the
high places.¨ (Eph 6,12) How true!
The Catechism also tells us that “peace cannot be attained
on earth without safeguarding the goods of persons, free communication
among men, respect for the dignity of persons and peoples, and the
assiduous practice of fraternity. Peace is the tranquility of order.
Peace is the work of justice and effect of charity.” (CCC 2304)
All these requirements of peace necessarily involve some
struggle, some warfare. We have to learn how to make a war of peace
and joy, and at the same time how to suffer, since suffering will be
unavoidable.
The secret is simply to identify ourselves with Christ who
identified himself with his Father whenever we suffer in any form,
physical, mental, emotional, psychological, moral, spiritual, etc.
This act of identifying ourselves with Christ is simply
reprising in ourselves what Christ himself did—believing and following
his Father’s will, ‘Not my will but yours be done.’
farewell to you, my peace is my gift to you,” Christ says. “I do not
give it to you as the world gives peace.” (Jn 14,27) We have to
understand these words well, accepting them first of all by faith, and
then analyzing them with all the resources of our God-given human
powers.
We should never depart from this peace of Christ. All our
efforts to come up with an estimation of peace for our personal health
or for social, economic or political well-being, should always be
inspired by this peace Christ gives us. It cannot be any other way.
Christ is the prince of peace. He knows how to tackle any
and all causes of trouble, conflict and war. He meets them head-on,
not escaping from them, and in fact converts these causes of evil and
war into paths to goodness and human redemption.
He goes straight to the very core of evil, the malice that
can spring in the hearts of men, the primal source of all our
troubles, conflicts and wars. And he does the ultimate to annul the
effects of evil, by assuming them himself, killing them with his own
death, and conquering them with his own resurrection. He always has
the last word.
While in pursuing and trying to gain peace we may have to
do some practical and temporary things, we should never forget that
the ultimate source of peace is Christ himself who is God who became
man for our sake. We should always go to him, praying and asking for
his help. We should never set him aside.
Following him will indeed involve effort and sacrifice,
but we have to look at the bigger picture, the long-range vision. We
will be asked to deny ourselves and to carry the cross, we will be
asked to undertake a continuing ascetical struggle, but all these come
with the territory.
The peace Christ gives us is the peace he himself won for
us on the cross. It is a peace that comes with some war, with some
violence—against our weaknesses, our temptations, and sins in all
their forms and variety.
He himself warned us about this. “From the days of John
the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and
the violent take it by force.” (Mt 11,12)
We should be wary when we are presented with an easy
program of life that can give us some instant advantages but will
certainly lead us nowhere but disaster. This is the kind of peace the
world gives us, as our Lord hinted. Its perks and advantages are
actually only ephemeral, short-lived and shallow.
To have peace in each one of us and later in the world, the kind that
abides and lasts, and that leads to the everlasting peace in heaven,
we need to wage war here on earth, a constant war that goes on until
death.
This is part of our human condition. Our weakened, wounded
nature requires it, not to mention, the objective reality that we have
enemies all around us. Our Catechism tells us of the seven capital
sins with which we have to contend with all throughout our life. They
are: pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony and sloth.
These capital sins are embedded in us. No use denying
them. We have to acknowledge their existence and learn how to deal
with them.
Besides, St. Paul also tells us about the formidable
spiritual enemies around us. ¨For our wrestling is not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities and power, against the rulers of
the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the
high places.¨ (Eph 6,12) How true!
The Catechism also tells us that “peace cannot be attained
on earth without safeguarding the goods of persons, free communication
among men, respect for the dignity of persons and peoples, and the
assiduous practice of fraternity. Peace is the tranquility of order.
Peace is the work of justice and effect of charity.” (CCC 2304)
All these requirements of peace necessarily involve some
struggle, some warfare. We have to learn how to make a war of peace
and joy, and at the same time how to suffer, since suffering will be
unavoidable.
The secret is simply to identify ourselves with Christ who
identified himself with his Father whenever we suffer in any form,
physical, mental, emotional, psychological, moral, spiritual, etc.
This act of identifying ourselves with Christ is simply
reprising in ourselves what Christ himself did—believing and following
his Father’s will, ‘Not my will but yours be done.’
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