Search for Peace

One thing that people around the world seem to have in common these days is the search for peace.  Our day and time is one of fear and anxiety; everything feels so restless.  I can’t really put a finger on exactly what it is that feels different today than 15 or 20 years ago, but things are certainly different, and the world seems angry.  I’ve noticed that everyone appears to be longing for a sense of peace and well-being, but I’ve also noticed that many are going about obtaining it in all the wrong ways.  Sometimes I feel the urge to find a grassy field or a dark thicket and just get lost in the simplicity of a caterpillar on a blade of grass.  It’s either some sort of quiet rebellion against all this noise or it’s my longing for a simpler time.  I haven’t quite figured that out yet.

As Christians, we need to have a clear understanding of what the true search for peace means in the world of today.  First of all, true, interior peace cannot be obtained simply by slapping a peace sign in a car’s rear window with an anti-war proclamation on one side and a pro-choice proclamation on the other; it just doesn’t work that way.  True, interior peace is void of hypocrisy and it certainly doesn’t exist solely for the purpose of making an individual feel all warm and fuzzy.  What is it with these “peace” people who go around uttering the word “peace” and then not living up to their own so-called example of what it truly stands for?

Search for Peace and the Bible

There is an interesting passage in the Bible in The Second Letter of Paul to Timothy (2 Timothy 3:1-5) where Paul speaks of a time that feels eerily like today:

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress.  For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding the form of religion but denying the power of it.”

The first time I read that passage I couldn’t help but think that we are living through it.  And it seems to me that if peace were prevalent in those “last days” that Paul is speaking of, there would be no need for him to have said what he said.  It’s the lack of peace which causes all the adverse conditions to be present.

In 2 Timothy 4:3-5, I again found myself wondering if Paul’s message is reflective of our day and time.  He goes on to say:

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths.  As for you, always be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

I think in our search for peace we need to heed the words of Paul and consider what he says in that last sentence.  We are all called to spread the message of the Gospel, and in order to do so, we absolutely must find interior peace within our hearts.

Search for Peace Impossible Without Prayer

In our search for peace, we need to keep in mind that without prayer, finding it and maintaining it will be impossible.  In parts of this post, I’ve been inspired by a treatise called Searching for and Maintaining Peace: A Small Treatise on Peace of Heart, by Father Jacques Philippe.  In it, he explains the necessity of total interior peace of heart in order to live our spiritual lives to their fullest and give glory to God.

There was a saint called Saint Seraphim of Sarov who once said: “Acquire interior peace and a multitude will find its salvation through you.”  In his search for peace, Saint Seraphim strove to live many years with a conversion of heart and continuous prayer.  After years of complete dedication to the Lord, thousands of pilgrims who came to him left him feeling not only comforted, but also delivered from their doubts and anxieties.  They were enlightened in their vocations and their bodies and souls were healed.  Following the example of Saint Seraphim, in our own search for peace we need to keep prayer at the front and center of our daily lives.

Spiritual Combat and the Search for Peace

We are continually fighting a spiritual war with the infernal enemy, Satan.  Every Christian must be totally convinced that his/her spiritual life cannot be viewed as a quiet trouble-free journey.  Rather, it must be viewed as the scene of a continuous and sometimes painful battle, which doesn’t end til death.  We are constantly struggling against temptation and the sin that is within us.  But though the combat is a reality, it has a positive side.  Saint Catherine of Siena said that without war there is no peace.  We continually need to recognize that there cannot be victory if there is no combat.  This combat is the place where we are purified; where we experience spiritual growth and learn to recognize and accept our weaknesses and know God in His infinite mercy.

Our search for peace in this troubled time is by no means without spiritual challenges and a constant struggle against evil.  But though the combat is tough, we need to keep in mind that the victory has already been won, as Our Lord, Jesus, is resurrected.  When we fight against sin, we are really fighting with the Lord’s strength, not our own.  And this interior peace that we seek is not only a condition for spiritual combat, but it is also often the very goal itself.  The enemy is continually attempting to steal our peace of heart, and it is in this spiritual combat that we defend it.

Search for Peace in Praying the Rosary

When we pray the Holy Rosary, we are on a search for peace.  Our Lady calls us to unite with her in fulfilling her Son’s requests for our salvation, and what better opportunity to search for, find and maintain this interior peace that our hearts crave than through the power of the Rosary!  I often find that before I pray the Rosary at night, I am nervous and rattled from the events of the day; it feels like a million pounds are resting on my shoulders!  But then I notice that as soon as I begin reciting the Rosary and meditating on the mysteries, I feel a sense of calm come over me that is truly like a breath of fresh air; my mind is put at ease.  I may still drift in and out of concentration (yes, it happens to us all,) but I at least have the sense that I’m exactly where I ought to be, and this sense is what carries me through the Rosary and into the remainder of the night.

to be continued tomorrow..

Photos by: my sister Amy

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