It’s important that we understand the kind of peace that Christ gives us. As he said, “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.” (Jn 14,27) Very heartwarming words of Christ, but we have to know exactly what that peace is all about.
Yes, we have to understand that Christ gives us a specific kind of peace, one that definitely goes beyond the worldly definition and standards of peace. It’s a peace that is not simply the absence of wars, troubles, worries, etc. In fact, it is one that can only be achieved through constant struggles. As one saint would put it, it is a peace that is a result of war!
This is a peace that can only be achieved and felt when we try our best to keep a good relation with Christ. That is to say, that we develop a healthy interior or spiritual life that links us with Christ. With him, we can manage to have peace however the situation of our life and the world in general turns. It’s an all-weather kind of peace, a realistic one that can be enjoyed both in good times and bad times.
This is a peace that is not simply based on natural and human conditions. It is one that comes from God, that channels the peace of God himself who can transcend and resolve whatever twists and turns our life here on earth goes through. It’s a peace that comes as a result of God’s wisdom and omnipotence.
It’s important that we earnestly make the effort the identify ourselves more and more with God’s will and ways, since only then can we enjoy the true peace meant for us. God’s will and ways have been revealed to us through Christ and are now shared with us through the Holy Spirit working through the different instrumentalities of the Church.
Definitely this peace that comes from God will lead us to become more spiritual and supernatural in our ways, without of course compromising what is human and natural in us. But certainly, there will always be the need for disciplining our natural and carnal selves so we can enter into the spiritual and supernatural dimension of our life with God.
Thus, there is a need to outgrow our carnal selves, a process that will involve constant struggle. We all need to overcome our carnality and sensuality to allow reason and eventually our faith to take root, dominate, guide and lead us. That’s because we are meant to be spiritual men, not carnal men. Reason, will, faith, hope and charity—all these make up the spiritual character of our life.
We have to be careful with the many ideological definitions and descriptions of man that can contain certain elements of truth but still miss the core point. Man is not just a social, economic or political being. He is a lot more than these.
Much less is he a purely material being, completely imprisoned in time, space and worldliness, and detached from God, the eternal, supernatural, perfect being, who created him to be God’s image and likeness, as what some worldly ideologies teach.
When we manage to live our life with God through Christ in the Holy Spirit, then we can be sure of having that invincible peace Christ promised to give us!*
