There is much talk about peace, but how to achieve it in our lives?
Newsroom (22/11/2025 10:15, Gaudium Press) “Where do the fights and quarrels among you come from? Do they not come from your passions, which fight within your members?” (James 4:1).
If we asked the people of our time what they most desire for themselves and for the world, the most frequent answer would undoubtedly be: peace.
However, authentic peace — that which springs from charity and joy — is not merely the absence of external conflicts. It requires, first and foremost, the absence of inner turmoil, for no one can fully enjoy a good when they are disturbed by anxieties that arise within themselves or are imposed on them from outside.
To achieve this peace, that is, the “peace of the soul” or “tranquility of order”, St. Thomas à Kempis offers us some simple advice in his Imitation of Christ:
My son, seek to do the will of others before your own;
Always prefer to have less than more;
Always seek the last place and submit yourself to everyone;
Always desire and pray that God’s will be fully accomplished in you;
Those who do so enter into the realm of peace and rest. [1]
[1] KEMPIS, Thomas. Imitation of Christ. São Paulo: Círculo do Livro, p. 122.
Compiled by Sandra Chisholm
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