The Peace of Christ

The peace of Christ is the gift he makes to his own by reconciling them with God: the deep tranquillity of a soul restored to communion with its Creator. Christ leaves it to his disciples on the evening of the Last Supper, on the eve of his Passion, as an inheritance. “Peace I leave with you: my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you.” John 14:27

The tranquillity of order

The world calls peace the cessation of fighting and the calm of circumstances, an accord that lasts as long as the calm lasts and gives way as soon as trial returns. The peace of Christ rests on something else, and he says so in giving it: “not as the world giveth”. The world calms what is outside; Christ sets order within, at the root, in man’s accord with God. The Hebrew word rendered by “peace”, shalom (שָׁלוֹם), means fullness, the wholeness of a life where everything is in its place. It is what Saint Augustine, in the City of God, calls “the tranquillity of order”: man accorded with God, calmed within, his passions held under reason, and from there at peace with his brothers. This order is the work of justice and the effect of charity: justice establishes the accord, charity animates and completes it. “And the work of justice shall be peace.” Isaiah 32:17 The psalm sees them meet: “justice and peace have kissed.” Psalm 85:11 Where each holds his rank before God, peace follows. Israel awaited it from the Messiah, the Prince of Peace: “his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:5 At his birth, the angels sang it: “on earth peace to men of good will.” Luke 2:14

The sword and peace

This peace keeps its demand, for Christ also spoke a hard word: “Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword.” Matthew 10:34 The sword he brings is that of division from sin and falsehood: to follow Christ sometimes separates one from those who refuse him. True peace remains the goal, but it passes through the break with evil, never through a compromise with it: “There is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord.” Isaiah 48:22 The peace of Christ is thus won at the price of a combat, that of the man who refuses evil to accord himself with God.

A peace born of the Cross

The justice from which peace is born, Christ accomplished on the Cross: there he restored the accord between God and men that sin had broken. “through him to reconcile all things unto himself, making peace through the blood of his cross.” Colossians 1:20 Still more, Christ is himself this peace, as Scripture had foretold: “And this man shall be our peace.” Micah 5:4 His person unites God and man, and through him men with one another: “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and breaking down the middle wall of partition.” Ephesians 2:14 On the cross he reconciled Jews and Gentiles in one body, casting down the enmity that divided them. Whoever is united to him by faith enters into this recovered accord: “Being justified therefore by faith, let us have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1 Thus the peace of Christ is threefold: with God, with oneself, and with one’s neighbour.

A peace that abides in trial

This peace dwells in the heart in the very midst of trials, for it rests on the presence of Christ and remains when all around is shaken. “In the world you shall have distress. But have confidence. I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 Received in prayer, it guards the heart and surpasses what the mind can grasp. “And the peace of God, which surpasseth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7

The gift of the Risen One, the fruit of the Spirit

On Easter morning, the first word of the risen Christ to his disciples is a gift of peace. “Peace be to you.” John 20:19 This peace then spreads in the soul as a fruit of the Holy Spirit. “the fruit of the Spirit is, charity, joy, peace…” Galatians 5:22 It is called to reign in the hearts of believers and to unite them: “And let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also you are called in one body.” Colossians 3:15

Sent to carry it

Whoever receives this peace is sent to carry it to others, and this mission makes him resemble God. “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” Matthew 5:9 It is this peace that the Church passes on at every Mass, when the faithful exchange the sign of peace before communing in Christ. Its fullness, however, is still to come: it belongs to the Kingdom. “the kingdom of God is… justice and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Romans 14:17 The Church sums it up in a phrase: the peace of Christ in the kingdom of Christ.