The Ways of Peace

A prayer to St. Benedict by Deacon Allen Tatara includes this line: “You walked the paths of peace your whole life long and led all who came to you into the ways of peace.” This was quite a feat, because Benedict lived during a time of war between Emperor Justinian and the barbarian Goths, who swept down into Italy in the year 568, killing and pillaging as they went along.

In the second book of his Dialogues, Pope Gregory the Great includes a story of how Benedict led one particularly cruel Goth, Zalla, into the way of peace. Zalla took a farmer captive and brought him to Benedict, demanding money for the man’s release. Upon glancing at the cord that bound the farmer’s hands, it fell miraculously to the ground. Then, “Without rising from his place, Benedict called for his monks and had them take Zalla inside for some food and drink. After that he urged him to give up his heartless cruelty. Zalla went away thoroughly humbled.”

You and I may not be capable of the miracles that Benedict is said to have performed, but we can cultivate a peaceful spirit that allows us to defuse tense situations with equanimity. We can choose to offer hospitality to those who oppose us, as did some Ukrainians who offered food to young Russian soldiers they encountered — killing them not with bullets but with kindness. Jesus often ate with sinners and was quite successful at converting hearts; wouldn’t it be wise, then, to adopt his strategy?

Walking the way of peace takes great strength of character that is built through small choices we make every day — the choice not to gossip, not to retaliate for perceived slights, not to let our heart be clouded by envy. In consistently cultivating a peaceful spirit, we too can lead those we encounter into the way of peace and enjoy the blessing that Jesus promised to peacemakers.