Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
The Work Of Peace

The Work Of Peace

Last updated on: November 3, 2024 at 3:29 am by Henry Karlson

0 Comments

The Work Of Peace 2024-11-03T03:29:00-05:00 Henry Karlson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Randy Greve: Prince of Peace Abbey, Oceanside, California / flickr

Even when we sin, when we embrace unlove instead of love, that sin leaves us either spiritually wounded or dead. Nonetheless, despite our rejection of love by some act of unlove, God continues to shower us with love and grace, making sure that we can be healed of all the harm we have caused ourselves and rise again from the ashes. God’s love for us is not stopped when we sin; rather, as it is eternal, it is unchanging, but the way we engage that love will differ such that it will seem to become much and much greater the more we find God welcoming us and helping us recover from our sin. God’s love is much greater than the way of unlove, that is, God’s grace is greater than sin and the destruction and annihilation which sin creates in its wake. Sin does not have the final say. Sin does not prevent God from loving us. Sin does not stop God from doing all that can be done on our behalf. With God’s love and grace, we can find and maintain peace. Christ is the prince of peace: he uses a spiritual sword to cut sin (and its corruption) away from us. That is, when Christ talks about using a sword, we must not understand that he wants us to pick up a literal sword and use it for violence, but rather, to use a spiritual sword to overcome discord, breaking down the barriers which sin has created in the world, so that all creation can be brought together in one harmonious accord, the accord which sin destroyed:

For he is our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby bringing the hostility to an end. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father (Eph. 2:14-18 RSV).

Christ, therefore, wields the spiritual sword as if it were a spiritual scalpel, using it to heal us from the contagion of sin and the harm which it has caused us. Those who want to deny the way of peace, those who ignore Christ’s warning that those who live by the sword will die by it, want to turn Christ into some sort of warrior, one who comes to conquer the world through violence. They want us to forget that Christ is called the prince of peace – Jesus, himself, does not deny he brings us peace, indeed, he says he brings it, but as is usual with him, he often presents us the way he does this in an enigmatic, almost paradoxical way. Those who do not understand the way Jesus speaks, and so try to take literally what is a metaphor, undermine Christ and his accomplishments as they try to use him to serve the way of destruction. They think the Christian faith should serve as a tool for their wanton violence and the domination and control they want to set up through it. That is, they want Christ to follow the way of sin, to have Christians follow the way of sin, instead of the way of love.

Christ calls us to the way of peace. We are expected to come to him, seeking peace for ourselves; in order to attain that peace within, we must also work for peace throughout the world. We are to join ourselves, therefore, to Christ and his mission, and, though history shows that even in the church, this is often undermined, eschatologically, the church is where that peace will be established as the whole world will find themselves to be one in and through it (and so, one with Christ, as the church is the body of Christ):

So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Eph. 2:19-22 RSV).

We rise out of our spiritual death and we are brought back to spiritual life in and through Christ. This is because we see Christ has taken us into himself, so that we become one with him, a part of his mystical body, which is why we are called to share in his work as prince of peace. We are to do what we can to build up a true peace in ourselves and in the world around us. It must, of course, be a just peace, one which restores the rights and dignity of those who have lost either of them. Tyranny and abuse have no place with the peace of Christ. We must, therefore, wield the spiritual sword with Christ, cutting away injustice in the world, and the sin which led to and created it. We are to use it to overturn systems of abuse and the structures of sin which keep them in place. The work for peace rejects the way of sin, the way of violence, but it does not reject the need to struggle against sin, against injustice in the world – it is not apathetic, it does not give in to injustice, but rather, it resists such injustice as long as is necessary. Peace building must be done in the proper fashion. It must embrace healing, not vengeance, lest the peace which is established proves to be unjust and so helps reinforce the structures of sin (in a new way). Thus, all the healing which Jesus did in his ministry itself was a representation of the way of peace, the way he worked to establish peace in the world, showing us how much greater the way of grace is to the way of violence and the injustice which follows it. Let us, therefore, embrace the work of peace in the world.

Stay in touch! Like A Little Bit of Nothing on Facebook.
If you liked what you read, please consider sharing it with your friends and family!

N.B.: While I read comments to moderate them, I rarely respond to them. If I don’t respond to your comment directly, don’t assume I am unthankful for it. I appreciate it. But I want readers to feel free to ask questions, and hopefully, dialogue with each other. I have shared what I wanted to say, though some responses will get a brief reply by me, or, if I find it interesting and something I can engage fully, as the foundation for another post. I have had many posts inspired or improved upon thanks to my readers.

General Christian

Previous Post

November 1, 2024

Friends Of God

Next Post

November 4, 2024 We Must Not Defend The Ways Of Greed

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Gosh, did that hit the spot. I have been having great anxiety lately. And I ..."

Mark Wilson

Rejecting Doom: Christian Hope And Human ..."

"Justice and peace are two sides of the same coin. Where there is justice, there ..."

Dr.Cajetan Coelho

Justice First, Charity Beyond It: Serving ..."

"Thank you for your very, very powerful and very, very insightful analysis of the relationship ..."

alwayspuzzled

Justice First, Charity Beyond It: Serving ..."

"Given the amount of lethal malevolence that has prevailed in human history for the past ..."

alwayspuzzled

We Must Value Our Health

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Abraham abuse Aesthetics AI Aliens Ambrose Ancestors and Everything Andrew Angels Animals Anne Anthony Antisemitism apologetics Apophatic Apostle John Aquinas Artificial Intelligence Asanga Ascension Asceticism Assumption Atheism Attachment Augustine Authority Avarice Balthasar Baptism Beauty Biden birthright citizenship Bishops Black History Books Buddhism Bulgakov Byzantine Calendar C.S. Lewis Calcidius Catholic Catholicism Catholicism Celibacy Charity Chastity children Chrismation Christ Christmas Christology Church Climate Change Common Good Communion Confession Confirmation Conscience Constantine conventions conversion councils Covid Creation Cross Dead Death Death Penalty Debate Deception Demagogues Demons Desert Monks Desert Mothers Desire destruction development Dialogue Dignity Dionsyius Dionysius Discipline Diversity Division Doctor Who doctrine dogma Dormition Dualism Easter Easter Series Ecumenical Councils Ecumenism Education Election Empathy Environment Error Eschatology eschaton Eternity Ethics Eucharist Evangelism Eve Evil evolution Faeries Faith Fear femininity Ficino Florence Florensky Folktale Fools Forgiveness Freedom Future gender Gentile Gentiles Glory Gnostic God gods Good Samaritan Goodness Gospel Government Grace Great Fast Guns Hate healing Health Heaven Hell Hellenism Heresy Hierarchy Hildegard Hinduism History Holiness Holy Spirit Holy Week Hope Horror Human rights humanity Humility hypocrisy ICE icon icons Identification Identity Idol II Nicea Immigration incarnation Individualism Informal Reflections Inklings Intention Inter-Religious Interfaith Internet Interpretation Intrinsic evil Irenaeus Islam Israel Jacob Jerome Jesus Jews John Chrysostom John of Damascus John the Baptist Joseph Judaism justice Justification kenosis Kindnesss Kingdom of God Kingdom of Heaven Law Law of Moses Lazarus Leaf by Niggle Lent Lenten Reflection Liberation Theology Lies Life Listen Literature Liturgy locutions Logic Logos Love Marriage Martyrs Mary Mass Maximos The Confessor Meanness Meditation Mercy Middle Path Migrants Mind Miracles Miriam Morals Moses Movies Music Muslims Myths Names Nationalism Native Americans New Year Nicea Nicholas Nothing Novatian Obedience Occam's Razor Ordination Origen Original Sin Orthodox orthopraxis Pagans Palamas Palm Sunday Paradise Paschaltide Paul Peace Pentecost person Peter piety PKD Plato pluralism Plurality Poem Poetry Poiltics Politics Poor Pope Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV Post Office Prayer Pride Pro-life Prodigal Son propaganda Prophecy Prophets Providence Putin Racism Reading Reason Reflection Refugees Relationships Religion Religion Series Religious Liberty Repent Republicans Rest Resurrection Rich Rites Russia Sacraments Saints Salvation Salvian Santa Science Scripture Self-Giving Sexuality Sibyl Sick Silence Sin Singlehood Social Justice Society Sodom Solovyov Speculations Spiritual Reflection St. Cyril of Alexandria St. Justin Martyr Suffering Sunday of the Paralytic Man Sunday of the Samaritan Woman Superhero Supreme Court Teaching Technology Thanksgiving The Father the Universe Theological Reflection Theology Theosis Theotokos Thomas Timaeus Time Tolerenace Tolkien Tradition Transfiguration Trinity Trump Truth Uncategorized Unity Universities USCCB Value Vatican II Vegetarian Vices Violence Virtue Vocations War Water Welcome Wisdom Womanhood Women Work World View Worship Writing Zacchaeus

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz