Peace

There are three types of peace.

The first is the peace between God and man. God holds out the offer from the cross and awaits our acceptance. In other words, God waits for us to end the war against Him. He triumphed by surrendering to sinners. Why do we wait to surrender to the source of our being and of all Good?

The second peace is that peace where man is a peace with himself. The world covets this peace but does not know how to achieve it. This peace is a mirror of the first peace. In the first, peace is achieved when the lower serves the higher; thus when the lower faculties of the soul and the flesh serve the higher faculties of the soul (memory, understanding, and will), man is at peace with himself. The will is moved by the reason. Without grace, which comes from the first peace, the higher serves the lower, and man is not a peace, for he is serving his base appetites. The lower faculties incline towards vice, the higher towards virtue. With grace, the lower serves the higher, and man is at peace with himself.

The third peace is between neighbors. This peace is not possible between men who are not in possession of the first two. At best, men not at peace with themselves or God can be compelled into a facsimile of peace, but true peace occurs only when man is not at war with God and himself.

It is the world contents that the third peace can be had without the first, or even without reference to the second. The Lord, as our source and summit, who came to bring the blessing of peace on earth to men of good will, gave us the only Way, in Truth, and Life.

Thanks to Ven Louis of Granada, The Sinners Guide.