The Hebrew word for ‘peace’ is both a customary Jewish greeting and farewell where one imparts another with well-being. When Jesus left us, He gifted us with two things greater than material wealth: the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit and His peace. More than a perfunctory goodbye, He took the latter and made it His own.

This is the inner peace residing in us when there is the right ordering of love. God created all things good (Gen 1:31). But concupiscence darkened our intellect and clouded our will, leading us to make choices based on our disordered passions. Our inner harmony is upended; for example, choosing mammon over God, doomscrolling over prayer time and lust over chastity (Rom 7:19-25). God is the highest good to which our love must firstly be directed. All others are lesser goods that flow from His divine Will and are intended to lead us back to Him (Rom 1:25). To live a holy life, we must be capable of an objective and detached evaluation of loving all created things in their just and proper order instead of being inordinately attached to them. Friendship with God, simplicity of heart, calmness of mind and spirit in temptations and persecutions, and the bond of charity to our neighbours – these are the marks of the supernatural peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding (Phil 4:7).