In Part I, we started by acknowledging the many ways we attempt to make peace without being born again to the life of God the Trinity, without seeking earnestly to enter peace in the rest of God the Father by being conformed to the likeness of Jesus the peacemaker and the Spirit the peace-giver. In Part II, we approached and considered again the Person of Jesus, He who is the peacemaker, seeking understanding of how He enables and empowers us to know the peace of God again. In this third and final essay, I think it is now possible for us to talk about what it means to be makers of peace like Him in the world.

Consecration

This year we said goodbye to a brother priest in our diocese. After he reposed in the Lord, his widow sent a box to the cathedral containing some of his belongings—vestments, a chalice and paten, and some books. Among these items, I unpacked a prayer rope that had clearly been in use for many years. Its outer threads revealed the effects of friction as the knots were passed through the fingers with each Jesus Prayer. His prayer rope had become threadbare through love and prayerful use. Far from reducing its value, though, these marks of use made it all the more special: it had known a prayerful priest over many years.

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