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Ironically, the most sacred days of the year are often some of the most hectic. In fact, the American Psychiatric Association reports that Americans are five times more likely to report that their stress increases rather than decreases during the holiday season.
There are so many things outside of our control. We can’t control the pandemic: neither case numbers nor variants. We can’t control the decisions of our relatives and friends. We can’t control how our co-workers respond to holiday chaos. We can’t control the long lines at stores or delays as we travel. The holidays amplify how many things are simply beyond us.
Confronting this fact, Archbishop Fulton Sheen says,
In the chaos of the season, it’s unlikely that we’ll find exterior peace. That doesn’t mean we can’t find peace though.
The saints kept their peace, that is, they had true interior peace, in so many crazy situations. They found true interior peace in Nazi concentration camps and Soviet prisons. They found peace in times of war and famine and persecution. Even while suffering from terrible diseases like cancer, saints managed to keep their peace.
The Virgin Mary had every reason to not have peace. Think of everything that she had to arrange! All the work that had to be done! And yet, as Bishop Sheen says,
Mary had true interior peace.
How to cultivate peace during the holidays
Ultimately, peace, even interior peace, is not some abstract state. St. Ambrose of Milan reminds us,
Peace is a person. Christ is our peace.
