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December 2007 Issue
Peace
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During this Advent season, the
church presents us with the
dramatic prophecies of Isaiah
concerning the promised one whom
God is going to send to his people.
Some of Isaiah's ringing descriptions
have become favorite quotations for
Christmas cards and even for a wall in
the United Nations building in New York.
The quotation for the U.N. wall is from
Chapter 2 of Isaiah:
"They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks. One nation
shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall
they train for war again."
Another of the Hebrew prophets, Micah, put it
more simply and bluntly when he described the
promised one of God: "He shall be peace." |
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The followers of Jesus lovingly believe him
to be that prince of peace. We accept that if the world were
to live according to his teachings, we would not succumb to
hostilities. As it is, though, even his followers have armed
themselves throughout history even to this day. Neither has
there been a permanent truce reigning gloriously in Christian
families or within Christian communities. But peace is more
than just a truce. It is better than simply the absence of hostilities.
Peace, as Christ embodied it, is communion with God and with
neighbor. To live in such a state of communion calls for a spirit
different from even our best and noblest spirit. Peace needs
the Holy Spirit of God. And this is the very gift which Jesus
gives us. However, we still need the Lord to know what to do
with such a divine gift.
Msgr. Gaspar F. Ancona is recently retired.
He is the author of Where the Star Came to Rest, a history
of the Diocese of Grand Rapids.
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