Love's Peace

A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, January 1st, 2023:
The Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God

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Numbers
6:22-27

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: "Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, 'Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall say to them, The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them."

These translations, variations, and synonyms helped to bring to life for me this beautiful prayer of blessing given by a loving Father – God – to Moses and Aaron and to the people of Israel.  

The Lord bless you and keep you.
May Love favour you and protect you.

The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you.
May Love’s angelic face turn toward you, and be kind and merciful to you.

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
May the gaze of Love be upon you and give you completeness, soundness and contentment.

I’ve heard that we especially ought to pray this blessing over our children, as they grow and encounter the difficulties of life, so that they may know deep in their hearts that they are protected and held in peace by Love itself.

Years ago, if someone had told me that God wanted to bless me, I would likely have been skeptical or even downright dismissive of that as pure sentimentality, considering that my own father had died in an accident and I did not see that as any kind of a blessing. In fact, I’d say that I saw “love” as outside of practicality, as a particular form of weakness or idealism that certainly wasn’t sovereign over anything.

The truth is that nowhere in this prayer does it say that bad things won’t happen to us, even as children of God. What I didn’t understand years ago was that the face of Love can still shine upon us and help us find peace in the midst of tragedy that is wrought by nature, human error, or even calculated evil deeds.

God knows that the deepest desire of all our hearts is for peace. Peace – completeness, soundness and contentment – flows out of Love, a Love that makes us feel secure and inspires us to be our best selves. We can talk about the subtleties and sociology that influence this, but I believe that God’s influence is sovereign over all; the ultimate truth is that Love is the only everlasting source of peace.

I can do my best to control my environment and the people in my life in my search for peace – or I can operate out of this blessing that God has spoken over me and trust that Love will bring me to the peace I seek. In spite of the painful acknowledgement that God allows evil, opening to His grace has allowed me to see the truth of the Love that has been all around me throughout my life and even during the time of my dad’s death.

I am grateful and filled with the Holy Spirit as I sit with this powerful and prophetic word that has been spoken over me, and I pray that God will do the same for you.

Holy Family, pray for us.

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Lindsay Elford

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