- Status
V
Vouthon
Guest
Thank you for this. 
A
AnneTeresa
Guest
I read this and still don’t have peace. I get it sometimes but then I get storms of doubts and questions and with it, anxiety and fear. The pope says peace is a blessing from God and that it comes from pondering God and looking in God’s face. But in real life, it seems it still doesn’t always come. So, is it just a trial that one must endure and continue to praise God through it, even without peace? Or, is it a sign that one is not following God perfectly? I’m about ready to throw in the towel. Is peace something one can achieve or is it purely a gift that comes from God and we must accept whatever He gives us? In Scripture, I see both-promises of peace with God but so many people who do not find that peace too, not always because of their own sin. How in the world can we say God brings peace when it seems following him brings so much struggle?
B
Bookcat
Guest
Pope Benedict XVI says at the end there:
That the – “peace with God” – “is firmly linked to faith and grace, as Saint Paul tells the Christians of Rome (cf. Rom 5:2).”
“Nothing can take this peace from believers, not even the difficulties and sufferings of life. Indeed, sufferings, trials and darkness do not undermine but build up our hope, a hope which does not deceive because “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us” (5:5).”
So it is a peace that can exist in the midst of sufferings and trials…and it is not always a “felt” thing…
Our sensitive nature can be all storm tossed --but we have an anchor! We must hold fast to it. Especially in the storm tossed waters that come at times in life. And peace can exist beneath the surface of the waves…even if not “felt”.
The anchor is a wonderful early Christian symbol – that firm anchor of our Hope of our Faith
…and indeed we have the anchor of Christ himself.
That the – “peace with God” – “is firmly linked to faith and grace, as Saint Paul tells the Christians of Rome (cf. Rom 5:2).”
“Nothing can take this peace from believers, not even the difficulties and sufferings of life. Indeed, sufferings, trials and darkness do not undermine but build up our hope, a hope which does not deceive because “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us” (5:5).”
So it is a peace that can exist in the midst of sufferings and trials…and it is not always a “felt” thing…
Our sensitive nature can be all storm tossed --but we have an anchor! We must hold fast to it. Especially in the storm tossed waters that come at times in life. And peace can exist beneath the surface of the waves…even if not “felt”.
The anchor is a wonderful early Christian symbol – that firm anchor of our Hope of our Faith
…and indeed we have the anchor of Christ himself.
B
Bookcat
Guest
He notes:
“From the contemplation of the face of God are born joy, security and peace.”
We especially encounter the face of God in Jesus of Nazareth. In his love.
Such does not necessarily come “at once” or take away all trials…and it is yes both gift and something by grace cooperate with…work with …in prayer…meditation…acts of faith and hope…the “renewal of our mind” (of our thinking)…etc
“From the contemplation of the face of God are born joy, security and peace.”
We especially encounter the face of God in Jesus of Nazareth. In his love.
Such does not necessarily come “at once” or take away all trials…and it is yes both gift and something by grace cooperate with…work with …in prayer…meditation…acts of faith and hope…the “renewal of our mind” (of our thinking)…etc
B
Bookcat
Guest
From another place Pope Benedict XVI noted in an Audence:
“A second consequence occurs in our life when we let work within us the Spirit of Christ and when the very relationship with God becomes so profound that no other reality or situation affects it. We understand that with prayer we are not liberated from trials and suffering, but we can live through them in union with Christ, with his suffering, in the hope of also participating in his glory (cf. Rom 8:17). Many times, in our prayer, we ask God to be freed from physical and spiritual evil, and we do it with great trust. However, often we have the impression of not being heard and we may well feel discouraged and fail to persevere. In reality, there is no human cry that is not heard by God and it is precisely in constant and faithful prayer that we comprehend with St Paul that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom 8:18). Prayer does not exempt us from trial and suffering, indeed — St Paul says — we “groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Rom 8:23). He says that prayer does not exempt us from suffering but prayer does permit us to live through it and face it with a new strength, with the confidence of Jesus, who — according to the Letter to the Hebrews — “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him [God] who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear” (5:7). The answer of God the Father to the Son, to his loud cries and tears, was not freedom from suffering, from the cross, from death, but a much greater fulfillment, an answer much more profound; through the cross and death God responded with the Resurrection of the Son, with new life. Prayer animated by the Holy Spirit leads us too to live every day a journey of life with its trials and sufferings, with the fullness of hope, with trust in God who answers us as he answered the Son.”
vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2012/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20120516_en.html
“A second consequence occurs in our life when we let work within us the Spirit of Christ and when the very relationship with God becomes so profound that no other reality or situation affects it. We understand that with prayer we are not liberated from trials and suffering, but we can live through them in union with Christ, with his suffering, in the hope of also participating in his glory (cf. Rom 8:17). Many times, in our prayer, we ask God to be freed from physical and spiritual evil, and we do it with great trust. However, often we have the impression of not being heard and we may well feel discouraged and fail to persevere. In reality, there is no human cry that is not heard by God and it is precisely in constant and faithful prayer that we comprehend with St Paul that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom 8:18). Prayer does not exempt us from trial and suffering, indeed — St Paul says — we “groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Rom 8:23). He says that prayer does not exempt us from suffering but prayer does permit us to live through it and face it with a new strength, with the confidence of Jesus, who — according to the Letter to the Hebrews — “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him [God] who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear” (5:7). The answer of God the Father to the Son, to his loud cries and tears, was not freedom from suffering, from the cross, from death, but a much greater fulfillment, an answer much more profound; through the cross and death God responded with the Resurrection of the Son, with new life. Prayer animated by the Holy Spirit leads us too to live every day a journey of life with its trials and sufferings, with the fullness of hope, with trust in God who answers us as he answered the Son.”
vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2012/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20120516_en.html
B
Bookcat
Guest
And Pope Benedict XVI noted elsewhere:
"According to Sacred Scripture, three symbols describe the hope of Christians: the helmet, because it protects us from discouragement (cf. 1 Th 5:8), the anchor, sure and solid, which ties us to God (cf. Heb 6:19), and the lamp which permits us to await the dawn of a new day (cf. Lk 12:35-36). … "
"According to Sacred Scripture, three symbols describe the hope of Christians: the helmet, because it protects us from discouragement (cf. 1 Th 5:8), the anchor, sure and solid, which ties us to God (cf. Heb 6:19), and the lamp which permits us to await the dawn of a new day (cf. Lk 12:35-36). … "
- Status