Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
–Jesus
The God of peace is never glorified by human violence. –Thomas Merton
These two quotes have been the seeds of my contemplation this past week in the wake of so many violent deaths in our nation. I have been praying in a way I have not prayed before because I feel like I am running out of ways to help people sort through frustration and fear. What has come from my prayer? A little more worry, but lots of good insight from our generous God.
I prayed intentionally because I fear we are becoming almost numb to the loss of human life. The story of the tragic killing of innocent ones unfolds too often and our human instincts of self-preservation and sheltering -from-that-which-makes-us-uncomfortable kick in quickly. Well, we are human (and therefore fragile), and we can only handle so much.
But how do we rekindle that fire within us that moves us to a true passion for life at every stage? Here’s what I received from prayer: Remember that God loved every one of us into life (Psalm 139), that God directs all of humanity to choose life (Deuteronomy 30), and that Christ came into the world that we might have life and have it abundantly (John 10). Pray hard and ask God: “What shall I do to keep sacred your gift of life? What would you have me do, Lord?”
In another work of Thomas Merton, the monk and spiritual writer proposes that the reason there is no peace is because each one of us is not at peace, and we are not at peace because we are not at peace with God. The peace offered by Christ in this Sunday’s Gospel is a consolation in knowing that He is always with us, always loving us, always encouraging us to be the best we can possibly be. If everyone embraced that truth, ego’s would deflate, fear would dissipate, and love would conquer all.
Pray that our world will learn from Christ – who is fully alive – what it means to be alive and at peace with one another and with God.
Praying for that peace for you and your dear ones,
Welcome to the Saint Aloysius! Our parish was founded in 1896 to serve the Catholic families that were settling in the greater New Canaan area.