Tag Archives: St Gregory of Nyssa

Sowers of peace

Our Lord, Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace.

The prophet Isaiah announced the coming of one who would be called Prince of Peace.  When Christ was born in Bethlehem,  the angels announced peace on earth, and Christ later told the apostles that he came to bring peace such as the world cannot give. But when we look around us, we see a great lack of peace. In this meditation, we use texts of Scripture, St Gregory of Nyssa, St John Paul II and St Josemaria Escriva to consider:

    • How the Scriptures speak repeatedly of peace
    • What peace is
    • How peace begins in the human heart
    • How we can grow in peace by loving God more and following the promptings of the Holy Spirit
    • How we can spread peace around us, in our family, our workplace and in society

The art of holiness

Our Lord Jesus Christ with the the children.

St Paul says that God chose us before the foundation of the world to be holy in his presence. In this meditation we consider how:

  • Our Lord’s calling us his friends demands that we should love him and strive to be more like him.
  • The effort to be more Christlike is the struggle for holiness
  • We were made in the image and likeness of God but our sins tarnish that image
  • The work of forming ourselves is like that of the artist – it is the art of holiness
  • St John Paul II and St Gregory of Nyssa speak of the struggle for holiness as similar to the work of the artist
  • St John Chrysostom, like the Second Vatican Council centuries later, says that all are called holiness