Can you believe Christmas is only one week away? Today, we light the last purple candle on our Advent wreaths. It’s known as the “Angel’s Candle,” and it symbolizes peace, reminding us of the message of the angels: “Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men.”
What a beautiful promise these angels revealed to the shepherds on that first Christmas night. Peace on earth!
Are you feeling this peace in your heart right now? Or are you experiencing some form of fear, or frustration, or boredom or worry or anxiety? It is important to recognize what you are experiencing in your heart at this moment, or any moment for that matter.
The will of God for you is deep interior peace in your heart that can be experienced even when life isn’t going so well. Why is this so difficult to live with such a great gift?
Peace and trust
What causes us to become agitated, disturbed, worried or irritated, etc.? Us – we cause it – by trying to control everything (even things out of our control), by trying to resolve everything by ourselves; by going through life alone.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (John 14:26–27). This peace does not depend on circumstances. The peace of Christ is the interior feeling that comes from acknowledging Christ Jesus as your highest joy, and then trusting that He will do everything necessary to bring you even more of His joy.
A lack of peace comes from a lack of trust in God. The condition for peace is the desire to love God above all else and to trust him even in the smallest things. In other words, the peace of Christ is given to us when we trust — not our circumstances — but all that God promises us in Christ Jesus.
So how do we experience and even maintain this peace in our everyday lives?
'The Lord is in the here and now, in the present'
Let me offer some suggestions for this season of Advent.
1. First of all, ask the Lord Jesus to deepen His gift of peace in our hearts. Yearn for it and seek it from him.
2. So often we live in the past with our regrets. You can’t take the past back and redo it. Place your past in God’s mercy through forgiveness. So often we live in the future – with all our great plans, worrying if they will come true. Place your future in Divine Providence through surrender.
What does this tell us? We don’t always live in the present. Live only for today. The Lord is not in the past. The Lord is not in the future. The Lord is in the here and now, in the present. This is where he deeply desires to love us, to heal us, to console us, to be with us. Union with the Lord Jesus ONLY happens in the now, in the present moment.
During this season of Advent, what is Jesus asking you to surrender in your life right now so that you can live the present in His Peace?
The Lord’s peace often comes through his faithful instruments. To whom is He asking you to bring His Peace?
Perhaps even as you are listening to this message, the Holy Spirit has brought someone to your mind. Bring this gift of Advent to them.
And, don’t forgot to pray each day this week for the gift of Christ’s peace to come alive in you.
May God bless you!
Bishop Robert Gruss