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Friday, July 01, 2005

Peace

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
- our Lord Jesus, recorded by St. John 14:27

Peace is not the absence of effort, but the tranquillity of order.
- St. Augustine or St. Benedict or St. Thomas Aquinas

But Christian peace, true peace, is neither wilderness nor helplessness, nor stillness; that is the peace of cemeteries. Christian peace is life, it is motion, it is spontaneous action, the fruit of harmony and cooperation
- from the "General Notions" on a paper on peace by Msgr. Luigi Civardi

Finally, here's an almost over-familiar prayer. Yeah, yeah, you say, good old raggedy St. Francis of Assisi. But look at it with new eyes, and try and say it in a thoughtful way, as an examination of conscience.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
when there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

Grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand,
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life


What say you of peace?

3 comments:

DEANBERRY said...

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Roz said...

"Not as the world gives. . ."

I wonder how much I really understand of the peace that Christ gives. It sounds like a concept with far more depth and more layers than I have reached. It's too easy, somehow, to jump to the conclusion that it is a mental, emotional peace, or that it's the peace of having my sins forgiven. Those are all part of it, but I think there may be more that I don't "get" yet.

Justin said...

Wonder is probably the best way to ponder his peace. St. Paul would probably tell us we needn't fret too much over completely understanding it:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. - Phil 4:4-7

But yeah, I think it's far more than an internal peaceful "attitude". It just seems like it would be much more hearty and full-bodied. He did heal the sick, after all.

 

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