We are a culture that is confused about peace. We seem to think that peace means a lack of violence, which it does. Christ seemed to have a different point when he breathed the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in the upper room.
"My peace I give you. Let your hearts not be troubled or afraid."
That is a little different than a lack of violence. It's a lack of violence in the soul. It is a lack of violence in our spirits. It is a lack of violence in our relationships. When you connect it all, it seems that perhaps Christ IS talking about a lack of violence.
So many times we think that the lack of violence, the peace that is offered by God and by Jesus is going to come from the outside and then work its way into our hearts. The truth is far from that. Only when the world is inhabited by saints will we see an end to war. These saints will have peace about the world before the world is at peace.
They will have peace about the world because they will understand the proper order of things, they will not seek to control things that are out of their control, making them angry. This peace that will be in their hearts will be a sign of the hope that is within them, a direct contradiction of the fear that is in the hearts of those around them.
This is partially what makes saints so dangerous. They do not suffer from the fear that grips the hearts of others. This is why watching things like the "X-Games" is so much fun. Here are people that are willing to do things that most of us have the good sense, or the lack of daring to do. We don't do them because at the end of the day we are afraid that we don't have the ability to hurl a motorcycle fifty feet in the air and land without killing ourselves.
Saints lack a fear about the world in a spiritual sense. They are willing to do things that others dare not do. They pray utilizing the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are bold enough to proclaim their faith. They are willing to offer to pray for the person no one else will. They are willing to engage the outcasts of society that other people reject because they know in the end that the person is another Christ.
With a heart that is unencumbered by trouble or fear we encounter a living Christ. A peace within us that kills anger by allowing anger to eat itself. Since anger is a fire that burns by adding more fire, to simply wash it in the waters of peace bring about a lack of flame.
This also allows us to be patient. When one is patient, it is due to the fact that they are at peace. They have no problem waiting on the timing of God for their heart is neither troubled or afraid of the outcome. They live in hope. They know eventually that Christ wins, that it is the Holy Spirit's Church!
The patient don't try to force their control on another person. They don't try to make someone else conform to their idea of what it means to be holy. They don't have the expectation that the other person walk the same exact road of faith that they do.
They allow the Holy Spirit to work. They allow Christ to work on a person's heart in their own time. They plant seeds and recognize that they may be the sower, or they may see the fruit, but they are not the sun, the soil, or the water that allows that fruit to grow.
We seek peace and patience.
It is the fruitful alternative to our anger and despair.
Questions for Reflection:
- In what areas of my life is my heart troubled? In regards to which people? What troubles me?
- When I think about the areas of my life where I am troubled, is it because I have some type of fear? Is the fear realistic or is it something that is born out of my own mind and amplified by my own need to control things?
- Do I consider myself a patient person? Is the anxiety caused by my impatience an unwillingness to accept the plan of God? How do I think that I can move the plan of God along better than He can?
- Is there someone in my life that I consider a peaceful person? What qualities do they have that I can imitate?
- Is there someone in my life that I consider a patient person? Is it easy to spot the people that are peaceful and patient? Do the two often run together? Do others consider me peaceful and patient?
- Take time to reflect on your own heart. Spend some real time in contemplative prayer, asking God to give you peace, especially in the areas where you are the most frustrated.
- We all have things or situations in our lives that we fear. For many of us these fears dictate the way that we live our lives. Christ doesn't want us to live this way. List out those fears and offer them to Christ in prayer. See if you can't come up with an action plan as to how to defeat each of those.
- Usually when we pray for a gift God gives us an opportunity to test it. Expect to be tested in your patience this week. Come up with a prayer that you can say when you are tempted to lose your patience. Utilize it often.
- Confront a fear that you have this week. Deliberately put yourself in a position where you need to face that fear head on and determine if your fear is logical or illogical. Pray and act accordingly. (If your fear is of snakes, please do not take this as an opportunity to jump in a pit with rattlesnakes. That is not the intention.)
- Make a list of five people in your life that need peace in their hearts. During the course of the next week, try to find a way to make one of those people's lives a little easier by easing a fear or anxiety that they have. Pray with them. Talk to them. Let them know that Jesus offers hope.
Our Father: (To be prayed in the morning)
Our Father, who art in heave, hallow'd be your name. They kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, amen.
The Angelus: (To be prayed at noon)
The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary, etc.
Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
Be it done unto me according to your word.
Hail Mary, etc.
And the Word was made flesh.
And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary, etc.
Pray for us O holy Mother of God.
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let Us Pray - Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ, your son, was made known by the message of an Angel, may, by his passion and cross, be brought to the glory of his resurrection, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen
Act of Entrustment to Mary #5 (Pray in the Evenings)
O Mother, you know the sufferings
and hopes of the Church and the world:
come to the aid of your children in the daily trials
which life brings to each one,
and grant that, thanks to the efforts of all,
the darkness will not prevail over the light.
To you, Dawn of Salvation, we commit
our journey through the new Millennium,
so that with you as guide
all people may know Christ,
the light of the world and its only Saviour,
who reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit
for ever and ever. Amen.
Prayer of the Garden (before doing something new)
"Let this cup pass from me, but not my will be done, but yours be done."
Hail Mary (say at 9am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm, and 9pm)
Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blest is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Prayer to St. Michael (Prayer when confronted with fear or impatience)
Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle!
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou, O prince of the
heavenly hosts, cast into Hell Satan and the other evil spirits,
who prowl about the world, seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
