Three kinds of peace that arise from Virtue
1 min • Digitized on November 13, 2021
From The Sinner’s Guide, page 195
By Venerable Louis of Granada
CHAPTER XIX.
THE EIGHTH PRIVILEGE OF VIRTUE THE PEACE ENJOYED BY THE JUST.
The liberty of the children of God is the cause of another privilege of virtue, no less precious than itself—the interior peace and tranquillity which the just enjoy.
To understand this more clearly we must remember that there are three kinds of peace:
- peace with God,
- peace with our neighbor,
- and peace with ourselves.
Peace with God consists in the favor and friendship of God, and is one of the results of justification.
The Apostle, speaking of this peace, says: “Being justified, therefore, by faith, let us have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” [Rom. v. 1.]
Peace with our neighbor consists in a friendly union with our fellow-men, which banishes from us all ill-will towards them.
David enjoyed this peace when he said: “With them that hated peace I was peaceable; when I spoke to them they fought against me without cause.” [Ps. cxix. 7.]
To this peace St. Paul exhorted the Romans: “As much as is in you, have peace with all men.” [Rom. xii. 18.]
Peace with ourselves is the tranquillity arising from a good conscience, and the harmony existing between the spirit and the flesh when the latter has been reduced to submission to the laws of reason.