If there is one thing lacking in the world today, it is certainly the calm of peace. Everything is turmoil and excitement. Individuals seem to constantly need new and exciting things and need them now. Our highways abound with innumerable examples of restlessness, as people hurry to get where they are going so they can hurry and do what they want to do. Conflicts within families and between nations fill our newspapers. Seeing all this one might be tempted to think that peace is not possible.

Yet with all this upheaval around us, we may, if we wish, possess that peace which Christ brought, and which the world cannot give. Let us ask how so that we may strive for it.

How is peace possible? When we consider the requirements of peace, we must acknowledge that it is something not impossible, but only improbable by reason of our resisting it. We really do not want peace, and therefore it cannot come to us. To have peace we must first of all be reconciled to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Until He came, man was at variance with his creator. Only the "Prince of Peace’ could restore the lost friendship. There must also be harmony with our neighbor, through forgiveness of injuries and charity in all things. Also it must be in oneself, through a good conscience giving contentment to the soul.

According to Saint Augustine, peace is nothing else than "the tranquillity of order". This order must permeate every aspect of our lives and can be had only if the price of subjection is paid; but, like everything else, it cannot be had if the price is not forthcoming.

The saints show us this plainly. They understood that the obstacles of life are means to payment of this price. If they are accepted they become salutary but if refused they become as poison to the soul. This peace gave them the strength and courage to face all trials, amidst which their measureless confidence in God gave them an unfailing cheerfulness of mind and heart.

Sadly enough, many people seem to do nothing but refuse these trials. They complain about and criticize everything, whether it’s the weather, the food, fellow parishioners, family members or even their priest. Unlike the saints their attitude is one of general dissatisfaction. No matter how small the cross is, they refuse to take it up, preferring to throw it on someone else’s shoulders. Nor is this dissatisfaction limited to themselves, for it spreads like wild fire leading others to complain, criticize and lose their peace of soul.

So what makes peace possible? Simply put, it is the fact that Christ brought it. By believing and truly accepting Him as the Redeemer and Teacher, the door is open to peace. This has been proved again and again in both the lives of the saints and in national or international affairs and will prove true also in the future. The promise of Our Lady of Fatima that the world will have peace depends on this belief and acceptance. Our Lord has chosen her Immaculate Heart as the instrument through which He will convert nations and give His peace to the world. Christ’s aim was peace —the peace of the individual, which is the fruit of a good conscience, and the peace of the social body, which is the fruit of justice.

That there are great and grave obstacles to this peace no one can doubt. Temptations against the law of God, want of resignation to His Will, disobedience to superiors, pride, anger, envy, avarice and selfishness all prevent this peace from taking root. But, if we strive to live in accordance with God’s law we will have peace. "Much peace have they that love thy Law." (Ps. cxvii. 165.)

Holy Writ gives the advice to seek after this peace, and it adds the admonition that we must pursue it. In other words, it is like a bird always escaping us and which we must hunt without ceasing. Perfect and permanent peace can be had only in heaven; to expect such peace on earth is futile, as Saint Augustine reminded us with the words: "You seek for happiness? It is not here." Such peace we know is in the heavenly fatherland, and we may have it if we pay the price.

May God grant us the grace to pay that price, and as we rejoice in the Resurrection, may "the peace of God, which surpasseth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."