- Peace -
(PEACE ITSELF)
I believe that true
peace has God as its source because it comes from the most loving heart of the
divine. Scripture says that peace is what God gives us and it is uniquely
through his spirit. It is a peace that is in union with God’s love. In
addition, God does not give this peace in worldly ways that can be deceiving
(JN 24:14-31). Those who have God’s spirit of peace; will forgive, love, care,
share and understand with all the compassion from within their lives.
Peace must be more than
just the absence of dispute. It must also be the unity of people that seek and
strive for good. Peace must be more than just the absence of violent noise; it
must also be the miracle of healing necessary for growing souls to come
together. Peace can touch us with its spirit at any moment of any day when we
are spiritual agents of that peace. Let us take this peace to our table of
blessings and transform our world into joy. Let us show this peace through our
actions towards the stranger and support our loved ones with it. Let us be
willing to experience no boundaries when we forgive with it or when we love
through it.
Peace can be a
surrendering process because we must allow God to shape it instead of
conforming peace to our personal lifestyles or our self-interest only.
Peace requires sincere
self-sacrifice, to appreciate others, to understand the true value of all and
to devote time and energy to create a common good around us.
Peace comes with a
price. Let us ask ourselves: Can there be peace within us if our wealth
overlooks hunger? Can there be peace within us if our comfort overlooks
justice? Can there be peace within us if our faith overlooks discrimination or
persecution? Therefore, peace and justice are closely related and are made of
the same substance: “God’s love for all people”. We may not fully understand
one another through human reasoning, but we can fully love one another through
knowing Christ.
Yes, peace comes with a
price … (Eph.2:14) … the sacrifice of the cross. Together we can love those who
are different or those who we do not understand and make that act of love a
timeless offering for the wounded Christ on the cross. Then, Peace can make us
God’s resurrected people.
D.
Crone
(PEACE THROUGH FORGIVENESS)
A person cannot be
healed or be at peace if they cannot forgive within their heart. A person cannot
truly love their enemy if they cannot forget the harm done. Forgiveness is
essential for peace. There is no choice, God has asked us to forgive in all
cases. It is a part of the most sacred prayer of all of Christianity, The
Lord’s Prayer. There cannot be peaceful relationships where non-forgiveness,
suspicion, violence, deception or misunderstanding exist on our part. There has
to be a commitment for change from within our soul (because forgiveness can be
useless without attempts for change from within). Even if an offender refuses
to change themselves, let us ask God to forgive them anyhow.
If someone has offended
us or uses hateful words against us, let us look beyond their actions or their
words to address the human feelings behind their actions. Then we must forgive.
If I do not forgive, then hate will have power and control over us. If someone
cheats us or physically harms us, let us eventually forgive. If we do not
forgive, then the darkness (deep within us) will do more harm. It is one of the
greatest acts of love to be able to forgive. If Christ can forgive on the
cross, we can forgive through His example. Let us always address the feelings
behind hateful actions and then forgive. Let us forgive others even if socially
they will have to be punished for their actions due to breaking the law.
Socially people pay a price for breaking the law but still spiritually we can
forgive. Our actions have good and bad social consequences but forgiveness can
be endless if it has God’s love as its foundation.
An offender cannot truly
know what they have done to themselves and others when personal energy is used
for destruction instead of building up relationships. We cannot love our
neighbor if we cannot forgive ourselves and others. Why would God forgive us if
we do not show forgiveness ourselves? Let us love the sinner but not their sin.
We should not spiritually judge the sinner because of their sin (God is a big
guy – he can judge on his own without our help). We can love the person (and
forgive that person) and deal with their behavior (lovingly) if it was cruel or
evil or hurtful to us. To sincerely forgive someone does not mean we accept
their offensive behavior, it means we love that person in spite of that
behavior. Let us recognize their human value and dignity as being important to
God and to us. Let us not allow their sin to drag us down – let us become
agents of love instead. No matter what, we can always discover inner
peace from within ourselves when we forgive.
The more we forgive, the
more we love the forgiven and the more the forgiven loves us. As Christians, we
want to be positive with our love. For resentment is bitterness; whereas,
forgiveness is hope. Bitterness destroys with anger but forgiveness brings together
with love. Anger is energy that shatters lives into all directions but
forgiveness is the glue of Christ for all souls to mend. Let us be the first to
forgive in all situations and see happiness grow around us.
Jesus demonstrates God’s
forgiveness with the Prodigal Son Parable (LK 15:11-32). He also
demonstrated how we should forgive others with the “Unforgiving Servant
Parable” (MT 18: 21-35). We are to forgive others like the father forgave the
Prodigal Son (with love from the heart) and we will be allowing God to bless
this forgiveness through his grace and peace. D. Crone
Lord Jesus;
When it seems like no
one deserves it … I forgive anyhow.
When feelings say, “NO”
… I forgive anyhow.
When it is hard to
imitate you … I forgive anyhow.
When there are only
tears … I forgive anyhow.
When there is only anger
… I forgive anyhow.
When I receive no forgiveness
… I forgive anyhow.
When my heart is hurt or
cold or miserable … I forgive anyhow.
When there is no peace
of mind, I find peace … I forgive anyhow.
I forgive as a spiritual
discipline … as an act of love … as a principle.
Lord Jesus, to your
glory … I forgive anyhow.
Amen
D. Crone
(THE PEACE PRAYER OF ST. FRANCIS &
THE BEATITUDES)
Some people believe that
“The Peace Prayer of St. Francis” was not written by Francis. Historians now believe
that it was written in 1912 by a priest in Paris France. It was widely
circulated on cards with a picture of St. Francis during World War One with
hopes of producing peace. If this is true, it was attributed to Francis because
of the philosophy behind it. Like the Beatitudes, it invites Christians to live
in this world with spiritual values that are up-side-down from ordinary
cultural values. We can desire to transform our personal hatreds into love, our
emotional injuries into pardon, our intellectual doubts into faith, our human
despair into hope, our moral darkness into light and our physical sadness into
joy. Christian faith should produce re-birth over and over again (since we are
a resurrection people) by producing more spiritual life for the soul’s
enjoyment. Christianity is all about self-giving sacrifice that produces peace.
During times of disagreement we can desire to be the consoler instead of being
consoled, to understand others more than being understood ourselves and to love
more than being loved. This is the process of planting seeds of love for new
growth. This is not neglecting oneself at the expense of others but instead
these actions will eventually produce God’s love coming our way from those who
we give our love to. For we can desire to give more than we can receive,
forgive more than we are forgiven and we can want our egos to die a little more
for the better good of eternal life and personal peace (here on earth and
above). Christian faith should be healing and beyond all reasoning – good.
Maybe the Peace Prayer of St. Francis was not written by Francis but let us
follow Christ through the example that this prayer produces (like Francis did
in his life). Francis may have been obsessive at times about his beliefs but he
was not a rigid man or an unforgiving person. He may not have been a tree
hugger of today but he was a sibling to all of God’s creatures. He wanted to
obey rules but his faith was not extremely dogmatic (it was a simple gospel
faith of love). Somehow he was able to cut through the red tape of his day and
also today to give others the sincere love of Christ from within his heart.
This love contains God’s peace. D. Crone
-
Peace Prayer of St. Francis -
Lord, make me an
instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred,
let me sow love
Where there is injury,
pardon
Where there is despair,
hope
Where there is darkness,
hope
Where there is sadness,
joy
O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so
much seek to be consoled, as to console
To be understood, as to
understand
To be loved, as to love
For it is in giving,
that we receive
And it is in dying, that
we are born to eternal life.
Amen
( THE FRANCISCAN
PEACE ROPE)
There is a thing called
the “Franciscan Peace Rope”. It has several symbols hung upon it. First there
is the face of the crucified Christ on a metal. This represents the personal
sacrifice that peace requires. Second, there is a Franciscan Tau with the
Latin words for “Peace and All Good” on it. This represents having goodwill
within the peace process. Third, there is another metal with the words “Make me
an instrument of your peace” upon it. This represents becoming spiritual agents
for peace through our good intentions. Fourth, there is the large (peaceful)
face of Christ hanging at the bottom of the rope. This represents “The Christ
Spirit” within us all motivating us towards peace through love. The rope has
the three Franciscan symbolic knots representing Poverty, Chasity and
Obedience. Poverty is there to remind us to empty ourselves of ego; therefore,
to be in great need of God. Chasity is there to remind us to have pure hearts
whenever we desire peace. Obedience is there to remind us to follow God’s will
to always love when creating
peace. D.
Crone
QUESTION:
1 Is peace a frame of
mind rather than an actual thing? Is it unobtainable? Is it Idealistic?
2 Does peace require
appreciation, placing value on and understanding one another?
3 Does peace require
sacrifice? - If so, why?
4 Is peace a part of
God’s Love?
5 Does the Franciscan
Peace Rope mean anything to you?
6 When two or more
disagreeing people introduce the “Franciscan Peace Rope” symbolic
characteristics into their lives, what happens? Is there peace through
love?
7 Can you separate the
true value of an individual from their behavior (to love the person but not
their behavior)? Is this required to seek peace?
8 How can you forgive
someone who has hurt you? What happens when you ask God to forgive them before
you are able to forgive them yourself?
9 Make a list of things
you can do to be a bearer of peace (a bridge builder between people)?
10 What quality of faith
must be incorporated to seek ways of unity and harmony?
11 How does the
transforming power of love and pardon show itself in an actual life of peace?
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