Peace of Christmas
Χαίρετε, Δ.Α.!
Let me start with this quote today:
Do you know who compose and sang the first Christmas carol?
It's a tricky question.
It was the angels that appeared before the shepherds the moment Christ was born. They sang:
Glory and Peace.
It is quite interesting this link that Mgr. made during his homily. Honestly, I've never really thought about the connection between the two before. But it makes sense to us Christians! God's glory shines brightest when His will is done and in what moment in time we see this at its maximum expression? Well, the moment Christ was born. The moment that He decided that he would also visit us in our hearts to bring us peace.
Peace is an interesting word. Maybe you have thought of it before, but it wasn't until Mgr. Lépine pointed out: If we want peace between us, there must be peace within me first. There has to be peace within my heart if I'm looking to give peace to others. And I have to be honest with you here. Ever since you left I've been having some tough times trying to regain that inner peace. I've had my moments when I think I'm over it, but then something comes up and bring turmoil within my heart. But I've also noticed that, by focusing on God first, while the sadness is not gone, I'm at peace. I can tell you that, the power of God's peace is one to pacify us. It pacifies our hearts. It pacifies us in our solitude and in our sufferings. It pacifies me.
God is invisible (d'uh!), but the effects of his presence are felt. When we open our hearts to Him, and experience his presence in our hearts, that presence of God transforms us. I don't know how to explain it, it just does! I feel it and that feeling makes me happy. Interestingly, I feel like I want to share this and transmit this peace that I have with others: family, friends, society in general... everyone. But Mgr. was saying that this feeling also interpellates us to be channels of peace, by means of our actions and our gestures, our words and attitudes.
So, you see, God is the essence of peace. And how do we reach God? Through prayer, right? Using this reasoning, Mgr. Lépine said that we cannot separate the peace of God from prayer; we cannot separate the peace of God from the glory of God and most importantly, we cannot separate the peace of God from adoration... Adoration? How does adoration come into play here? (you might ask). Well, adoration is a more intimate form of prayer. It is a one on one dialogue with God. So yeah, it makes sense that adoration is key to have peace. He even said that adoration and peace are deeply intertwined. If I want to be in peace, I adore God; if I want to serve peace, I adore God; if I want to make use of peace, I serve God. Peace and Adoration.
2016 might not have been a year in which I had many moments for adoration. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why I miss you dearly. While I pray every day for you and your happiness, I need to have more moments to of adoration before God. The fact that I heard this homily during Christmas, just reaffirms the whole reason for Christmas. God's coming. God makes himself close to us to bring us peace today and always.
And that, mi corazón, is the peace of Christmas.
Let me start with this quote today:
Today I'll be writing about what I remember hearing during the homily that was given by Mgr. Christian Lépine during the Christmas mass. He talked about peace.Christmas has above all a taste of hope because, for all the darkness in our lives, God’s light shines forth.— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) December 27, 2016
Do you know who compose and sang the first Christmas carol?
It's a tricky question.
It was the angels that appeared before the shepherds the moment Christ was born. They sang:
Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.They sang Glory to God and they sang Peace.
Glory and Peace.
It is quite interesting this link that Mgr. made during his homily. Honestly, I've never really thought about the connection between the two before. But it makes sense to us Christians! God's glory shines brightest when His will is done and in what moment in time we see this at its maximum expression? Well, the moment Christ was born. The moment that He decided that he would also visit us in our hearts to bring us peace.
Peace is an interesting word. Maybe you have thought of it before, but it wasn't until Mgr. Lépine pointed out: If we want peace between us, there must be peace within me first. There has to be peace within my heart if I'm looking to give peace to others. And I have to be honest with you here. Ever since you left I've been having some tough times trying to regain that inner peace. I've had my moments when I think I'm over it, but then something comes up and bring turmoil within my heart. But I've also noticed that, by focusing on God first, while the sadness is not gone, I'm at peace. I can tell you that, the power of God's peace is one to pacify us. It pacifies our hearts. It pacifies us in our solitude and in our sufferings. It pacifies me.
God is invisible (d'uh!), but the effects of his presence are felt. When we open our hearts to Him, and experience his presence in our hearts, that presence of God transforms us. I don't know how to explain it, it just does! I feel it and that feeling makes me happy. Interestingly, I feel like I want to share this and transmit this peace that I have with others: family, friends, society in general... everyone. But Mgr. was saying that this feeling also interpellates us to be channels of peace, by means of our actions and our gestures, our words and attitudes.
So, you see, God is the essence of peace. And how do we reach God? Through prayer, right? Using this reasoning, Mgr. Lépine said that we cannot separate the peace of God from prayer; we cannot separate the peace of God from the glory of God and most importantly, we cannot separate the peace of God from adoration... Adoration? How does adoration come into play here? (you might ask). Well, adoration is a more intimate form of prayer. It is a one on one dialogue with God. So yeah, it makes sense that adoration is key to have peace. He even said that adoration and peace are deeply intertwined. If I want to be in peace, I adore God; if I want to serve peace, I adore God; if I want to make use of peace, I serve God. Peace and Adoration.
2016 might not have been a year in which I had many moments for adoration. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why I miss you dearly. While I pray every day for you and your happiness, I need to have more moments to of adoration before God. The fact that I heard this homily during Christmas, just reaffirms the whole reason for Christmas. God's coming. God makes himself close to us to bring us peace today and always.
And that, mi corazón, is the peace of Christmas.
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