“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you”

 
What is Peace? Peace is “one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23. Peace is a goal of Christian living, as indicated by Jesus who said, ‘blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God’. The Fifth Commandment requires us to preserve and work for peace, which was defined by St. Augustine as ‘the tranquility of order,’ and which is the work of justice and the effect of charity.”[i] “Peace is first of all the absence of conflict. But it is also the serenity experienced because there is no conflict. It is the calm that accompanies agreement of human wills, and is the foundation of every well-ordered society.”[ii]

How is it possible to not have conflict? How is it possible to have human wills agree? It is only in Christ that this can happen and this is why He gives us His Peace. If human wills align with the will of God then human wills will agree and if we are one, we will not only be absent of conflict but will be ordered toward the Good, toward God. During Mass when the priest says, “peace be with you” he is giving us God’s peace not his own. Also, when we give the sign of peace to each other we are giving the peace of Christ to each other not our peace. Even if we are not in a “peaceful place” at Mass we are receiving and giving Christ’s peace.

Saint Paul speaks of oneness in his letter to the Ephesians and how unity comes in oneness. “I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserved the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”^[iii]
 
What are the seven areas of oneness that Saint Paul speaks of?

One Body – There is only one Body, the Body of Christ which was crucified, died, and was buried and rose from the dead on the third day. The Church is the Body of Christ, and since there is only one Body, there is only one Church. “As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.”[iv]

One Spirit – From the Cross, hung the One Body, and Jesus cried out, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”[v] There can only be one Spirit, because there is only One Body, Jesus Christ, who commends His Spirit. In the Nicene Creed we profess: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.”[vi]

One Hope – Hope is “the theological virtue by which we desire and expect from God both eternal life and the grace we need to attain it.”[vii] There is only one heaven, one goal, one finish line and the Church has been given to us so that we might have the ordinary means of Grace necessary to attain this goal.

One Lord – We know, love, and serve One Lord, Jesus Christ. In the Nicene Creed the majority of the Creed consists in our profession of who the One Lord is. “I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.”[viii]

One Faith – Faith is “both a gift of God and a human act by which the believer gives personal adherence to God who invites his response, and freely assents to the whole truth that God has revealed. It is this revelation of God which the Church proposes for our belief, and which we profess in the Creed, celebrate in the sacraments, live by right conduct that fulfills the twofold commandment of charity (as specified in the ten commandments), and responds to in our prayer of faith. Faith is both a theological virtue given by God as grace, and an obligation which flows from the first commandment.”[ix] Jesus Christ is the “whole truth” that God has revealed. Christ founded a Church in which the “whole truth” is taught, professed, celebrated, lived, and worshiped.

One Baptism – Baptism is “the first of the seven sacraments, and the ‘door’ which gives access to the other sacraments. Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of forgiveness of sins because it unites us with Christ, who died for our sins and rose for our justification. Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist constitute the ‘sacraments of initiation’ by which a believer receives the remission of original and personal sin, begins a new life in Christ and the Holy Spirit, and is incorporated into the Church, the body of Christ. The rite of Baptism consists in immersing the candidate in water, or pouring water on the head, while pronouncing the invocation of the Most Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”[x] There is only one baptism therefore if a person is baptized with water and the invocation of the Holy Trinity in any ecclesial community; they are not re-baptized when they wish to enter into the fullness of the Church.

One God – We have but one God, which we call “Our Father” at the command of Jesus. There is only one Father; therefore we are all children of the one Father, and brothers and sisters with one another. We profess in the Nicene Creed, “I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.”[xi] God is the source of all good, therefore to deprive our self of God is to deprive our self of good.
 
Where is this oneness found?  This oneness is found in the Church, which Christ founded. It is within the Church that we find the sacraments of initiation, one baptism, one Body (the Eucharist), and one Spirit (Confirmation). It is within the Church that we are given the theological virtue (one faith, one hope, and charity). It is in the Church that in sprit and truth, through the liturgy, we worship the one God and one Lord. It is only in the Church that this oneness is found, and the oneness is preserved by, “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name.” “The Holy Spirit, whom Christ the head pours out on his members, builds, animates, and sanctifies the Church. She is the sacrament of the Holy Trinity’s communion with men.”[xii]

The unity of the Church is not only invisible but also visible, a sacrament to the world. “The Church has but one ruler and one governor, the invisible one, Christ, whom the eternal Father hath made head over all the Church, which is his body (Eph. 22, 23); the visible one, the Pope, who, as legitimate successor of Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, fills the Apostolic chair…Should anyone object that the Church is content with one Head and one Spouse, Jesus Christ, and requires no other, the answer is obvious. For as we deem Christ not only the author of all the Sacraments, but also their invisible minister – He it is who baptizes, he it is who absolves, although men are appointed by Him the external ministers of the Sacraments – so has He placed over His Church, which He governs by His invisible Spirit, a man to be His vicar and the minister of His power. A visible Church requires a visible head; therefore the Saviour appointed Peter head and pastor of all the faithful, when He committed to his care the feeding of all His sheep (John 21:15), in such ample terms that He willed the very same power of ruling and governing the entire Church to descend to Peter’s successors”[xiii]
 
There is no doubt that we believe in the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ said that He would ascend to the Father, and then the Father would send the Advocate in the name of Jesus. The Good Shepherd therefore would ascend to the Father and thus before He ascends He commands Peter alone “Feed my lambs…Tend my sheep…Feed my sheep.”[xiv]

“Peter is made the foundation, because he says: Thou art Christ, the Son of the Living God; and hears in reply that he is a rock. But although a rock, he is not such a rock as Christ; for Christ is truly an immovable rock, but Peter, only by virtue of that rock. For Jesus bestows His dignities on others; He is a priest, and He makes priests; a rock, and He makes a rock; what belongs to Himself, he bestows on His servants.”[xv] In St Basil’s line of reason, Christ is the Shepherd, and therefore He makes St. Peter as Shepherd. Christ is holy, and therefore He makes the Church holy.
 
Saint Paul’s seven areas of unity are one of many proofs that the Church is not only the Body of Christ but that it is guided by the one Spirit of Christ. There also exist the four marks of the Church and the 15 marks of the Church proposed by St. Robert Bellarmine.

ACTIVITY – What convinces you?
Download the 15 Marks of the Church sheet. Have each person read and reflect on the 15 Marks given by Saint Robert Bellarmine and then choose three that are most convincing to them. They may also choose three that they feel would be most convincing to others. Write down on a white board or project onto a screen all the marks of the Church and then have each person say why they chose the marks they chose and make a tally of the top choices.

[i] Catechism of the Catholic Church - Glossary
[ii] Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.; Modern Catholic Dictionary
[iii] Ephesians 4:1-6
[iv] 1 Corinthians 12:12-13
[v] Luke 23:46
[vi] The Order of the Mass – Profession of Faith
[vii] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1817
[viii] Ibid
[ix] CCC - Glossary
[x] Ibid
[xi] The Order of the Mass – Profession of Faith
[xii] CCC - 747
[xiii] Catechism of the Council of Trent – “I believe in the Holy Catholic Church”
[xiv] cf. John 21:14-17
[xv] St. Basil – Hom. 29, De Paenit