Lenten Meditation

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Book 2 Chapter 3: The Peaceful Person

You must first have peace within your own soul before you can make peace between other people.

If we want to peace in the world, we must learn to be peaceful ourselves.  Anger and frustration with others will only lead to further anger and frustration.  We must learn to center ourselves on a peaceful mission which starts with establishing a calm disposition within ourselves.  Those who are passionate about a topic are not necessarily peaceful.  They allow their own frustration turn into anger and hatred.  This hatred easily becomes evil accomplishing just the opposite from which we intended  Protesters who sit in peaceful prayer in front of an abortion clinic are more likely to change the heart of someone contemplating an abortion then someone yelling at them. Both want to end abortion, but the zeal of the passionate angry protestor creates conflict not peace.  These discontented angry people are “easily troubled” and that spills over into their relationship with others.  While those that are peaceful instill comfort and calmness to their fellow companions.  A peaceful person is more likely to forgive their neighbor and make amends for their sins then to create conflict.  Our mission is to be charitable to others and lead them to Christ.  In our charity, we must convey love and compassion as Jesus Christ conveyed to the sinners that He confronted during his mission.  We must examine our own actions to see how far we are from charity and humility.  We must remember that life on this world is a test.  It is easy to be in a good relationship with an easy-going person, but a real test of our virtue is to be at peace with a person who creates conflict.  It is in your peacefulness that you will instill calmness in their heart.  It is through your kind and gentle attitude that you will convert their heart.  Thomas a Kempis states, “In this mortal life, our peace consists in the humble bearing of suffering and contradictions, not in being free of them, for we cannot live in this world without adversity.”  It is how we handle adversity that truly centers us on the trail to heaven.  Those who can tolerate the adversity “will enjoy the most peace, for such persons are masters of themselves … and heaven as their reward.”

A Simple Prayer

 

Father in Heaven, help me seek peace in my life.

Help me to be a warrior against adversity through my own calm disposition.

Teach me to be at rest with myself so I can be an example of peace for others.

 

Yours in Christ

Michael Marcon