St. Michael's Lent 2026 - Reading #37 - Peace
Reading
The peace proper to us now is by faith; by sight only hereafter — and even today’s peace is more solace than finished joy.
"But the peace which is peculiar to ourselves we enjoy now with God by faith, and shall hereafter enjoy eternally with Him by sight. But the peace which we enjoy in this life, whether common to all or peculiar to ourselves, is rather the solace of our misery than the positive enjoyment of felicity. Our very righteousness, too, though true in so far as it has respect to the true good, is yet in this life of such a kind that it consists rather in the remission of sins than in the perfecting of virtues. Witness the prayer of the whole city of God in its pilgrim state, for it cries to God by the mouth of all its members, 'Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.'"
The whole pilgrim city still needs that prayer.
He explains why peace stays unfinished: "And this prayer is efficacious not for those whose faith is 'without works and dead,' but for those whose faith 'worketh by love.' For as reason, though subjected to God, is yet 'pressed down by the corruptible body,' so long as it is in this mortal condition, it has not perfect authority over vice, and therefore this prayer is needed by the righteous. For though it exercises authority, the vices do not submit without a struggle. For however well one maintains the conflict, and however thoroughly he has subdued these enemies, there steals in some evil thing, which, if it do not find ready expression in act, slips out by the lips, or insinuates itself into the thought; and therefore his peace is not full so long as he is at war with his vices."
Peace is not full while that war lasts.
Reflection
If you have kept these weeks of watching and fasting with any seriousness, you have discovered both things: real growth, and the stubborn survivor-vices that walked through every discipline intact. Augustine says that discovery is not failure. It is accuracy. Peace in this life is rather the solace of our misery than the positive enjoyment of felicity, and the man who knows it stops oscillating between spiritual pride on his good weeks and despair on his bad ones.
For a father, this is the mercy that makes headship livable. You will lead your household imperfectly until you die; the office does not wait for your perfection, and God knew your file when He gave you the post.
So hold the line and pray the line: forgive us our debts. Your children need a forgiven father far more than they need a flawless one.