Albert Haase, OFM

The Peace Prayer reminds us to brighten the lives of others with deeds that manifest our familial bonds as children of a loving, forgiving God.

The Peace Prayer concludes with a simple reminder: “For it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” More than a mere summary of the prayer’s second stanza with its call to kenotic selflessness, this verse points to the resurrection, the foundation of Christian hope knitted into the very sinews of every deciduous ash, aspen, beech, birch, cherry, elm, and hickory tree.

The gratuity of grace is always unending and never expiring.

Despair descends when we feel helpless and trapped in a dire situation. When hope breaks ground, we feel empowered.

Knowing that one is being prayed for can open a person’s soul to be receptive to hope.