War and Peace

War and Peace

Submitted by Thomas Stidl

         Don’t worry.  This is not a dissertation on the book by Leo Tolstoy.  I normally do not display my sense of humor, but today is different.  People have wondered whether I have a sense of humor.  Yes it does exist. So enjoy!!

         We all seek peace.  We all seek peace in our hearts, peace within our family, peace within our neighborhood, peace in the city where we reside, peace in our country, and peace in our world.  Whereas most of us, myself included, cannot bring about peace in our world, we can only pray for that to happen, but we can bring about peace locally.  On New Years Day at the end of Mass, we once sang a hymn that said, “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.”

         After the hymn was finished, everyone exited the Church and then the war began.  It almost led me to believe that we were at an auto racetrack with someone saying, “Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines.”  Everyone tries to be the first one out of the parking lot.  I have no clue as to what the hurry was, since as an usher, I was always the last one out of Church.  There were also people who could not wait to smoke a cigarette or cigar and pollute the breathing space for all.  Also, the rush was on to get the entire family in the car with all the associated yelling for a quick get-away.  All people found that all that rushing was to no avail, because everyone wound up in a line to exit the parking lot that stretched quite a distance.  This brought the usual four-letter vocabulary due to impatience.

         Now, what do all these little tidbits have in common with war and peace?  Unfortunately. It has everything to do with the title of this article.  In Church, we are in the true presence of the actual Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.  He is truly present within all who receive Holy Communion.  Rushing to get everyone in the car is not the best way to treat Our Lord in your family.  Smoking a cigarette or a cigar is not the proper way to treat Jesus by polluting the air that our fellow humans breathe.  Winding up on a line to exit the parking lot with four-letter vocabulary does not honor God.  Does anyone realize that God is in the parking lot also?  We live in the presence of Almighty God always wherever we may be.  So the next time we sing, “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me”, we should actually try to live these words.  Maybe, if we did, our hearts, families, neighborhoods, and cities would be a more peaceful place to live.

         Until next time, Laus Tibi, Christe.  Deo Gratias.  Gloria Tibi Domini.  Praise be to God.  See you in Paradise.