Give Peace a Chance

Dona nobis pacem. Give us peace. It's a phrase every Catholic is familiar with, even just in passing. Most people are accustomed to hearing about peace every week at Mass in the Agnus Dei, but nowhere else. That is only the most obvious example, because if you pay attention to the Bible, you know Jesus preaches about peace. If you listen to hymns, many of them devote lyrical space to peace. Even the Blessed Mother has a title devoted to peace (as in, Our Lady, Queen of Peace). Clearly this is an important aspect of our Catholic faith, but so many people don't seem to know it. I myself am a champion at not being peaceful. I can be boisterous, I can be active, and I'm great at worrying, but peace is something that eludes me rather often, and I notice that it seems to elude many others, as well. I'd like to outline a few reasons we should all be paying more attention to and striving after peace in our lives.

Reason #1: Peace is Scriptural. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus preaches specifically on having peace. Chapter 6, verses 25-34 are all about peace. Not peace with others, which is important, but peace within ourselves, which I believe is more important because if there is peace within people, it becomes easier for them to achieve peace with others. In particular, verse 34 says, "Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil." This advice is helpful both practically and spiritually, as we can no more affect our vocation, job prospects, or family life by worrying than we can the weather. Work one day at a time toward your desired end in accordance with God's will, and try not to worry. God knows what He has planned for you, and it will come along much more easily if you're at peace about it than if you worry yourself to pieces.

Reason #2: Peace is part of Tradition. Quick! Do you know what precedes the Sign of Peace in the Mass? It's five rapid-fire mentions of the word peace. We give peace to each other in the Mass, but how many of us bother to receive it? Paul exhorts us to greet each other with the kiss of peace, and Christians actually used to do it! Now we hardly want to give each other the Sign of Peace when we're told to, and although I understand the arguments against allowing the members of the congregation to give each other the Sign of Peace during the Mass, I find that for the most part, people who do actually give it are more at peace, or seem to be, anyway. If we've been conveying the peace of Christ to each other in some way for two millennia, why stop now? It must be important if it's lasted this long.

Reason #3: We're going to have to be at peace at some point. How many times have you worried about something, only to completely deflate when it was over? For me, that's pretty much every stressful thing I do, and I become utterly useless when I finish, neither allowing myself peace when I need it most, nor when I can actually enjoy it. Why do so many people seem to be afraid of being at peace? Why would we rather pull our hair out over things than handle them as the (mostly) relatively minor situations they are? I have no clue, but sooner or later, we're going to have to relax a little. Saint Augustine said that our hearts are restless until they rest in God, but even he acknowledges that our hearts have to rest at some point, even if it's only in heaven. Some day, each of us is going to have to be at peace, so why not cut ourselves a little slack now and practice?

Yes, I realize that saying this now is a little hypocritical, as I'm sitting on my friends' couch, surrounded by books, food, empty pizza boxes, and the clothes I changed out of earlier this morning, having just finished two ridiculous final assignments. However, I know that once Tuesday afternoon comes, I'll be able to relax just a little bit, take my time, and maybe even get in a little time for being peaceful. And I'll enjoy that. No running around, no worrying, just hanging out with my friends for a bit before finals. I'm looking forward to being at peace this week, even if I'll start to stress again next week. For now, the peace of Christ be with you. You could probably use it.