[Pearls Ep. 120: What exactly is “Christ’s peace?”]
We’re looking at Christ’s promise to give us His peace, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you.”
So, what exactly is His peace.
In the ordinary sense of things St. Augustine tells us peace is the “tranquility of order” – stability, justice, liberty, dignity, etc.
From a spiritual perspective, Augustine and Aquinas tell us that peace is the fruit of charity – charity being the perfect love of God.
When we love God perfectly everything else in life gets placed in proper order. This is why even in our marriages, we are called to love God first, and then our spouse (a very close second).
So, if we are endeavoring to love God and make His will our will, everything in our life gets placed in proper order and the result is peace. And so the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “Peace is the goal of Christian living.”
Here again we see the beauty, power and consistency of Christ’s words in scripture. Just before Christ promises the apostles His peace He says, “Whoever loves me will keep my word” – because that is the source of peace – following the will of God.
And this brings us back to the question – what is “Christ’s peace?” Christ’s peace is the fruit of always following His Father’s will. Soon after Christ tells the apostles “my peace I give you” He went out to the Garden of Gethsemane – where He would say to the Father, “not my will, but Yours be done.” And after that – even amidst the unspeakable cruelty of the crowds and Jewish and Roman authorities – Jesus was in complete control and complete peace.
When we follow Christ, He will give us the strength to always do the will of our Father and experience peace even amidst life’s trials.
Those aren’t just pious words (as we’ll discuss more on Monday). The more we work to deny ourselves and give ourselves over to Christ – to know, love and serve Him – the more we gain the grace to know and follow the will of God in our life.
As always – the Sabbath is a great opportunity for spiritual growth – making God the priority of our day. When we do that on the Sabbath – which is the first day of the week – we are more likely to carry that mindset into the rest of the week.
Sabbath blessings to you –
Steve and Karen Smith
Interior Life
Postscript: “My peace I give to you.” Jn 14:23-29
Jesus said to his disciples: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.
“I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.”