A life under the influence of peace would be marked by a profound respect for all life, a commitment to justice and equity, and an enduring pursuit of harmony in all relationships—personal, communal, and global. It would be a world where the well-being of the individual is intrinsically linked to the well-being of the whole, creating a sustainable and thriving planet for all.

The peace prayer, attributed to (but likely not written by) St. Francis of Assisi, goes like this: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.