Reflection
The world envisions peace as the absence of war. Jesus’ vision of peace is far more embracing than that. The shalom of Jesus reaches into the very nature of God’s bond with creation, with our human nature and the nature of the universe. It is a vision of a reconciled world, a world of order where there is justice, harmony, and love. This is the shalom to which we are called. It is a peace interconnected with love. It is the peace experienced by those who live caring, just and courageous lives within the human community.
Prayer
May my life offer peace to others.
Action
Try to meet conflict with calm and a desire to create peace.
Suggested Reading
Shalom I leave with you, my shalom I give to you, Not as the
world gives do I give it to you.
John 14:27
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Shalom!”
John 20:19
When you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.
Francis of Assisi
Peace firstly means there are no wars … but it also means that there is friendship between all, that every day a step ahead is made for justice, so that there are no more children who are hungry, that there are no more sick children who do not have the possibility of receiving healthcare. Doing all of this means making peace. Peace involves work, it is not about staying calm and doing nothing. No! True peace means working so that everyone has a solution to the problems, to the needs, that they have in their land, in their homeland, in their family, in their society.
Pope Francis
I vow to cultivate peace by refraining from acts of violence (both verbal and physical), doing whatever I can to protect others from violence, and working with others to end violence in society as a whole.
Rami M. Shapiro
Serving peace is not easy. Often it is harder to seek dialogue with someone close at hand — a spouse, relative, co-worker, employer, or neighbor — than with a distant enemy seen only on television screens.
Jim Forest
Be peace, don’t just talk about it.
Thich Nhat Hanh
If someone thinks that love and peace is a cliché that must have been left behind in the Sixties, that’s his problem. Love and peace are eternal.
John Lennon
Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.
Mahatma Gandhi
Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.
Gautama Buddha