Peace out

Where does peace come from?
Within? God? Diplomacy?

What do we even mean by “peace”?
Calm? Happiness? Cease-fires? Mediation?

The word “peace” is so ubiquitous that we’ve ceased paying attention, ceased knowing what we’re saying.

Kind of like when you rapidly say a word so many times in a row that you forget what it even means anymore and have to stop and think about it.

The philosophy of language is really quite interesting; I took a class about it in college. (In France, in French, which just adds one more layer of interest to an already pithy subject.)

One of the most compelling concepts from the class is that a word is really just a symbol, a signifier of something else. In order to have meaning, it must be attached to something other than itself. When different people look at the same word, they may (and probably do) call up different “attachments”: different images — different significances — for that word. This concept partially explains why word-association games where you say the first thing that pops into your head are so telling about an individual’s psyche and life experience. While there are absolute, objective truths — definitions — of words, what a word actually means to an individual is so much more than that.

So what does “peace” mean to you? Stop and think about it for a second. (I know that it’s an odd feeling to STOP and THINK about something, isn’t it? I’m serious: do it right now.)

Honestly, 2 thoughts immediately come to my mind.

In the movie, Miss Congeniality, Sandra Bullock plays a gawky FBI agent who’s infiltrated the Miss America pageant. I love this movie. However, the movie is tainted for me because at the very end of the movie (SPOILER ALERT!), Sandra’s character says “And I really do want world peace!” *Groan* Totally out of character and cheesy (not that other parts weren’t, but this was unbearably so). It bothers me most because it’s disingenuous: They had just spent a fair amount of time making fun of the fact that “world peace” was an automatic answer for the ladies in the pageant, the robotic answer, the expected answer. Maybe they do, in some sense, want world peace… but they don’t even know what that means, and they haven’t even stopped to think about it! Over the course of the movie, Sandra’s character has gone from an intelligent, but clumsy, tomboyish, overworking, hygiene-challenged shell of a woman who scoffs at pageantry to a compassionate, beautiful, confident woman. I would hate to think that being the latter includes giving up your ideals and emptying your brain as well. Even if, at her core, she actually does want the world to be at peace, did she REALLY have to say it like that?

The other image that “peace” brings up is in the Mass when the priest says the word a handful of times right before the sign of peace. This repetition never really stuck out to me until I heard Dane Cook’s spiel about it. Now, he’s making fun of it, but he does it in a way that’s not offensive. And honestly, priests say it at least 5 times right before the sign of peace:

Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your apostles: I leave you peace, my peace I give you. Look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church, and grant us the peace and unity of your kingdom where you live for ever and ever 
R: Amen
The peace of the Lord be with you, always.
R. And also with you
Let us offer to one another a sign of peace.

 

I think my example illustrates just how omnipresent “peace” is, from the secular to the religious. We talk about it all the time. But how many people actually achieve it?

World peace: So many people working towards it (so many people working against it), but even if it’s possible, this is still quite a long way off.

So what do we do in the meantime?

Seek inner peace.

I’ve found that the only time I truly feel at peace is when I’m living contemplatively. Living contemplatively can happen both in the most hectic times of life AND in the most calm. (cf works of Thomas Merton)

In the hectic times, the goal (whether I make it or not) is to keep the eye of the storm in the core of my being. Though the winds of the hurricane roar, there’s always the quiet center in my soul, and the fury outside cannot penetrate it. (cf. Henri Nouwen’s Out of Solitude)

In order to maintain that center, it’s necessary to quiet oneself occasionally. Just be. Allow yourself some sabbath time. Allow yourself to sit and daydream. Allow yourself to ignore just one pressing issue and just sit. Invite God into your heart, your gut, your mind, and allow Him to heal, clean, and sort through things for you.

I quite often ignore both of these forms of contemplative living, somehow forgetting all the good that comes out of it, and how much my time is multiplied when I take the time to focus on God.

And so I write this post not as someone who’s a master of peace, but as someone who yearns desperately for it, and forgets all the time how to get back to it. So I’m writing now in thanksgiving to the Holy Spirit not only for the reminder, but also for the gifts that make it possible…

Pax vobiscum.

For Fear of Offending Others

In my young adult ministry planning meeting last time we talked about evangelizing.  A lot of my fellow leaders mentioned that they don’t usually talk about being Catholic in their workplaces.  It doesn’t surprise me, Catholics seem to be pretty quiet about their faith for some reason.  Why is that?  Why are we so afraid of telling people what we do and believe?

I never considered myself an evangelist until my parish priest called me an “Evangelist” on one particular evening when I was introducing my 5 Protestant friends to him that I had brought to mass with me. (They came because it was my birthday and that’s what I wanted to do – bring them to my church and meet my friends there, etc.)  I’ve never been one to get up in people’s faces, but I love talking about my faith when given an opportunity.  I take pride in my parish and what is going on at my church so I talk about it at work because it’s part of my life.
Sure sometimes my friends look at me like I’m crazy when I tell them I’ve volunteered to chaperone high school kids on their weekend long retreat.  Or that I give up one night a week to sit and talk with 8th graders about God.  Sometimes I do care. It sucks to be looked at funny for something that you really, genuinely enjoy doing… but it’s also really great to share the great stories that I have to tell because of what I do at church and experience in my relationship with God.

It makes me sad to hear when people seem to be really timid to even bring it up. You can talk about your faith because it’s part of who you are.  It really surprises me that someone who is involved in a lot of things at the church can somehow go years of working at the same place and coworkers not even know he is Catholic.  There are countless other examples, I’m sure and I’m not really picking on anyone in particular.  But I’d like to challenge you and even myself because I know speaking out and “spreading the Good News” is something that I have to work on too.  There have been times when we’ve had a discussion at work and I feel something inside of me tugging to speak truth.  Sometimes I’m too afraid to say anything so I just keep quiet.

Let’s be proud of our faith. Not to the point of becoming like Pharisee’s where we look down on others.  But like Christ who was confident in God’s Truth to be able to speak that in a loving way to others.

The Pope, Our Father

I’ll be honest… I’ve been somewhat disappointed with Pope Benedict’s pontifical term so far. He seems a lot colder and less willing to reach out to his people. It’s my perception of the media coverage which very well could be just that. We all know that the media isn’t always exactly unbiased in their reporting.

I guess it’s hard because as a young woman, all I’ve really heard about Pope Benedict is all the things that he disagrees with regarding World Youth Day, the way that the youth enjoy music, the liturgy… And whatever else – especially in terms of his visit to the United States. As someone who learned how to appreciate the Catholic faith through this “unliturgical” music, it’s quite frustrating. World Youth Day Toronto was an AMAZING experience. To be with hundreds of thousands of other Catholics and celebrate Mass together in one place is one of the greatest experiences. I got to visit University of Stuebenville my first year of high school and went on the weekend conference. This is the moment my Sacrament of Confirmation really kicked in. I knew that I was Catholic, I owned my beliefs.

I agree that liturgy is really important! I don’t want the Church to fall victim to the world’s ever changing standards and moral code. I believe that the Holy Spirit works through Her and the Pope to guide God’s people. I also would agree that while these experiences are great, may not be essential to the foundation of our faith. But it’s still frustrating to not feel the same connection that I did with John Paul II who loved the youth of the Church. These extraordinary experiences help to keep us going.

That really is another topic but the truth of the matter is, no matter how disconnected I feel, Pope Benedict was appointed to his position for a reason. Because I believe the Holy Spirit works through the Church, I know that he has a purpose for our Church. And like God’s law, obedience is vital. Even if I don’t understand or quite feel right with it.

I think it’s important that as Catholics we stick by our Pope. Now, this doesn’t mean that we have to be quiet and not be willing to question or try and clarify when we disagree or don’t understand. I think some amount of discord helps to get us all thinking and learning. But when it comes down to it, I think we’re called to obey the Church. I realize that this is pretty controversial among the youth. Shoot, most of young adults seem to shy away from the Church because they feel this disconnect and it’s really hard to obey when you don’t feel a connection.

So while Pope Benedict may not be as charismatic as his predecessor, that’s ok. He has his purpose and he is the figurehead of the Catholic Church. God has a purpose and a reason for his strengths as well as his weaknesses. The Holy Spirit is doing something through him.