PEACE AND QUIET

There is a prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours that has always struck me. The beginning of this prayer goes like this: “Lord, make the peace we pray for a reality: may we live our days in quiet joy….” Not only are we praying for peace (which is always needed in our homes, families, nation, and world), but that we might live our days in quiet joy. That phrase of ‘quiet joy’ has always stopped me: we often think of joy as boisterous and exuberant but joy can be quiet and reflective as well.
 
When we think about what ‘quiet’ means, we often think of little or no noise. We can also think about it in terms like calmness or stillness (the street after a new snowfall). ‘Quiet’ can a sense of not being disturbed by noise or activity (a moment of quiet contemplation) or something enjoyed in peace and relaxation (a quiet cup of tea). Yes, ‘peace and quiet’ really do go together. In fact, our word ‘quiet’ comes from the Latin quiētus meaning ‘at rest, peaceful.’ When we have peace and quiet in our lives and world, we live in a world not disturbed by the noise and activity that can pull us astray. There will always be noise in the world, noise that seeks to distract us from what really matters—and that is why we pray for peace but also that we might live our lives in quiet joy so as to not be disturbed by it all and rather have a calmness in our lives and souls.
 
A French priest and author who died in 1982, Father Jean du Cœur de Jésus d’Elbée, wrote that “we begin our heaven here below in the divine peace Jesus gives us. Our only happiness on earth lies in that. The world shrines the heart without ever filling it. Jesus makes it grow continually and fills it continually.” In order to be happen, therefore, we have to live in the peace of Jesus Christ. There is another pray that I often pray that has a line that goes like this: “O God, give unto thy servants that peace which the world cannot give; that our hearts may be set to obey thy commandments, and also that by thee, we, being defended from the fear of our enemies, may pass our time in rest and quietness….” Father d’Elbée writes that the saints’ faces radiate the peace that Jesus gives us. He says that “it is something calm, serene, like a beautiful lake without ripples.” We can picture in our mind a ‘quiet lake’ smooth as glass.
 
It is our duty, says Father d’Elbée, that we spread this sweet and joyful peace around us. He remarks that we must keep in mind the words of St. Thérèse of Lisieux who remarked that we be “not like judges of peace, but like angels of peace.” In our nation and world so torn by division and strife, it is our duty, however small, to strive to bring the peace and rest of Jesus Christ to those around us. We might be able to solve all the world’s conflicts but we can—daresay must—pray for peace each day. And that peace begins in our hearts. May our prayer be: “Lord, make the peace—which the world cannot give—for which we pray a reality: that we may obey your commandments and live our days in rest and in quiet joy. Amen.”