Above: Statue of St. Dominic and St. Thomas' altar in the Dominican priory church in London. Photo by Father Lawrence Lew, O.P.
Was Paul ever discouraged? Did he ever want to stop preaching? He endured stoning, imprisonment, shipwreck, rejection, and thousands of other difficulties and sufferings—this is the St. Paul who would willingly boast of his weakness and count all else as rubbish so that Christ might be his wealth (cf.
2 Cor 12:9;
Phil 3:8). How was it that St. Paul was so radiant with the joy of the Lord and so full of zeal for His Kingdom? How was St. Dominic so much like St. Paul?
Both of them understood and accepted the words of Christ Jesus, “
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.” This means that they understood that there was a difference between the kind of peace Christ brings and the peace the world brings. The world brings a peace that is temporary: we have peace after a new long-anticipated purchase; we have peace in good health; we have peace in the good opinion of others; we have peace in our accomplishments. All of this peace is so easily destroyed: we inadvertently damage the newly purchased item; we begin to get a sore throat; someone begins to gossip about us; some new manager undoes the changes we made. All of a sudden our peace vanishes, replaced by agitation and sadness. We easily begin to see that “piecemeal peace is poor peace” (cf. G.M. Hopkins, “Peace”).
Peace comes to us when we have attained what we desire. As long as we desire the things of this world, such as wealth, acclaim, pleasure, comfort, power, control, etc., we will have little peace; for, as soon as one desire is satisfied, another emerges. Or, we have a multitude of unsatisfied desires. If we desire control, for instance, we are doomed! We will never be able to control every person and every circumstance. The more we desire to control such things, the more miserable we will become. This experience, along with other experiences of frustrated desires, invite us to enter upon a new horizon—desire for the things of the next world. When we begin to desire the things of the next world, such as continual presence to God, love, joy, gratitude, the desire
itself brings peace; for, He begins to bestow on us on earth a foretaste of the things of Heaven if only we will ask. The more we desire Him, the more peace we will be given.
St. Dominic, most ardent for the salvation of souls, pray for us!
