We read in the Gospel of John (20:19) that peace is the gift from the risen Lord to his disciples. We don’t need to look too far to realise that our world at the minute is in such desperate need of this peace.

The reality of peace on a world scale though begins by individuals finding peace and being at peace with themselves. Each act of violence inflicted on another is evidence of the lack of peace and violence one is feeling within oneself, even if we don’t always recognise it. The lack of interior peace with ourselves is also evident in the way we treat our common home as well as our human brothers and sisters. Pope Francis is clear in Laudato Si (paragraph 119) and Laudate Deum (paragraph 58) that the damage that is being inflicted on the environment is symptomatic of the damage we are doing to each other as human beings.

119. Nor must the critique of a misguided anthropocentrism underestimate the importance of interpersonal relations. If the present ecological crisis is one small sign of the ethical, cultural and spiritual crisis of modernity, we cannot presume to heal our relationship with nature and the environment without healing all fundamental human relationships. Christian thought sees human beings as possessing a particular dignity above other creatures; it thus inculcates esteem for each person and respect for others. Our openness to others, each of whom is a “thou” capable of knowing, loving and entering into dialogue, remains the source of our nobility as human persons. A correct relationship with the created world demands that we not weaken this social dimension of openness to others, much less the transcendent dimension of our openness to the “Thou” of God. Our relationship with the environment can never be isolated from our relationship with others and with God. Otherwise, it would be nothing more than romantic individualism dressed up in ecological garb, locking us into a stifling immanence. (Laudato Si, paragraph 119)

58. Once and for all, let us put an end to the irresponsible derision that would present this issue as something purely ecological, “green”, romantic, frequently subject to ridicule by economic interests. Let us finally admit that it is a human and social problem on any number of levels. (Laudate Deum paragraph 58)

In whatever place you find yourself and however you see the world, may you work this week to make your area a better place, and remember that that begins with you. Often the hardest teaching of Jesus is to ‘love your neighbour, as yourself’. (Matthew 12:31) Ask God for the grace to be at peace with yourself this week and then share that peace with others. Have a blessed week and pray for those who are in need of peace that it too can become a reality for them.