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The Peace of Christ
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A man took his son to the top of a mountain, and showed
him everything around. He pointed out the trees, the flowers, the
expansive sky above, and the tiny houses below.
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He told his son there was something else down there
as well, and asked if he could see it? The boy screwed up his eyes, and
looked and looked, yet could still only see the distance.
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And the father said, "There is peace down there. Can't you feel it? Look hard, and do not forget it...."
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The child looked up at his father and said, "What is peace?"
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What is peace? Is
it an idea you have when there is a war on, to make you fight well? Or
an idea that gets lost when there is not a war?
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We all need peace in our lives. Not to fight well, but to live well.
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Words like suicide bombers are in the news every day.
Our nation is still fighting a war. So what were the angels thinking
when they sang, "Peace on earth...."
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What is this peace of Christ? What does it mean? Perhaps
St. Paul explains it best when he says, quite simply, "Christ is our
peace." It was through Him that God was pleased to reconcile to Himself
all things, making peace by the blood of His cross. Jesus' peace is not
just the absence of war; His peace is deeper than that.
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It is a peace the world cannot give. It is the presence
of God within you, all around you, a sharing in the life of God's only
son.
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This peace of Christ can coexist with war and hatred.
This coexistence Christ predicted; "I have said this to you, that in Me
you may find peace. In the world you find suffering, but have courage, I
have conquered the world." But for the Christian, coexistence with the
world's troubles is not enough. We do not clutch the peace of Christ and
just endure the world's distress.
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You come here every week, and you receive Christ. His
life flows through you like another bloodstream. It is the same Christ
that tells us to spread His peace. Christ came to make other Christs,
other peacemakers.
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Usually we say that world problems begin at home,
and they do. The greedy child who gets what he wants is in training for
the greedy corporation, which gets what it wants, no matter the human
cost.
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A family, or school, or neighborhood that nourishes
hatred instead of love poisons the very air and makes peace impossible,
divided. The battling family does not prepare the children for the
battles of life, but conditions them to violence. It makes them think
that the way to solve problems is not to talk, to listen, to give a
little... but to scream, and fight! We might not think of our family as
violent because we do not use weapons, but we forget that the Book of
Wisdom tells us that the tongue is more dangerous than the sword.
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If a word of peace is spoken, it has to be through
the mouth of a human. If the wounds of the world are touched, it is
through our hands. If the needs of the earth are responded to, it is
because we have seen them with our eyes and heard them with our ears.
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Today we begin our preparation for the birth of the
Prince of Peace. It may be a good time to ask ourselves a few questions:
What wars have you ended in your own backyard? What mines of envy or
hate, or discord or dislike, have you diffused? Who hurts less because
you love more? Or, who hurts more because you love less? Who was
depressed, but has come alive at your touch? Who is hungry for food or
affection, and is fed by your faith? Who thirsts for justice, and feels
more human because you are there? Who experiences God's absence, and
finds the image of God in your face?
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It is indeed a paradox, that if you want to feel the
peace of Christ, you must also give it away. The night that Christ was
born the angels sang, "Peace on Earth." And two thousand years later
there is still so much violence in the world. Is it God's fault?
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No, He never fails.
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We do not have to go to a mountain top to find peace.
We find it in our relationship with God. As St. Paul says, Christ is
our peace. We find peace by nurturing relationships with God and those
around us. It is an old, worn sentiment we have heard many times, but it
is true, and I paraphrase.... If there is to be peace on earth, and at
school, work, in our families and church, it has to begin with me.
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Yours in Christ,
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Fr. Robert Warren, S.A.
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