Franciscan Friars of the Atonement Advent Reflections Week 3 - The True Peace of Christmas

Franciscan Friars of the Atonement - Advent Reflections: Week 3 The True Peace of Christmas During the 1960s and early 1970s, the “peace sign” seemed to be everywhere. It appeared on T-shirts, jewelry, flags. It was even painted on walls and stitched onto blue jeans. It’s a simple design – a circle divided by lines forming a kind of broken cross. It became a symbol of protest, hope and unity. The sign made a comeback in the 1990s, but few people today know its true origin or intended meaning. We don’t need to debate the history of that symbol. Instead, we can look to a far older and far greater sign of peace: one announced more than two thousand years earlier. The first true peace sign was proclaimed by the angels on that first Christmas night. As St. Luke tells us: “And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” That Child, lying in the humblest of places, was – and still is – God’s promise of peace. Before going to the cross, Jesus told His friends, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you.” And after His resurrection, His first words to them were, “Peace be with you.” St. Paul wrote to the Romans, “The Kingdom of God is not a matter of food and drink, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” The peace of Christ is not a slogan, a gesture, or a passing feeling. It is the quiet assurance that God is with us – even amid the chaos we face in everyday life. This Christmas season, do not seek peace where it is shallow or short-lived. It will not be found in worldly possessions, success, or distraction. True peace can only be found where the shepherds found it: in the presence of Christ, the Prince of Peace, lying in the manger. So, when you see a peace sign this season, let it remind you of a far greater one: not drawn in ink or stitched on denim, but revealed in flesh and love. For the truest peace sign was, and always will be, a Child in a manger. Yours in Christ, Fr. Robert Warren, S.A. Spiritual Director