Thought for the Day – 13 April – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Easter: The Herald of Peace
“When Jesus was born in the manger at Bethlehem, the sky became brilliantly aglow and Angels descended singing: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men of goodwill.”
When our Lord had risen from the dead, He greeted the Apostles with the words: “Peace be with you!”
Peace, is a gift from God, only He can give real peace.
The peace of this world has a certain value but, it is nothing like the genuine and soul-satisfying, peace, which God can give us.
This is why Jesus said to His Apostles: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you” (Jn 14:27).
Worldly peace is external and can be disturbed or destroyed by men but, the peace of God is internal and nothing can destroy it, except sin.
It is possible to be persecuted and slandered and yet, to preserve interior peace, as the Martyrs and the Saints did in adversity.
It is this inner peace which we must aim at acquiring.
We shall be truly content, when we have achieved it, because, as St Thomas Aquinas says, “the fullness of joy is peace” (Summa Theologiae, I-II, q70, a3).
St Thomas Aquinas defined peace as “tranquillitas ordinis,” (Ibid II-II, q29, a1 ad1) i.e. “tranquillity of order;” St Augustine called it “ordinata corcordia” (De Civitate Dei, XIX:13) i.e. “ordered harmony.”
It is not sufficient for this harmony and order to be established externally among men.
It is necessary that this harmony and order should reign first of all, in our minds and hearts and in our actions.”
AnaStpaul 
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