# All Things Are One in Christ: Advent Week 4, Days 4 & 5
*2016-12-20*

> In this double episode for Advent Monday and Tuesday of Week 4, Bill Young reflects on Christ as the Prince of Peace, drawing from Ephesians 2:14 and Pope Francis’s teaching on resolving conflict through reconciliation, and meditates on Mary’s fiat and the Visitation as models of faith and peace.

## Advent Week 4 and the Feast of St. Dominic

Good afternoon. This is Bill Young, and welcome to Prayer in Lunch podcast. Today is Tuesday, December 20th, the fourth week of Advent. I apologize for missing yesterday’s episode—I’ll include Monday’s as well, so you’re getting two for the price of one. Today is also the feast of St. Dominic, who died on December 6, 1221. Though the transcript says ‘10th century,’ that appears to be a transcription error; St. Dominic lived in the 13th century (1170–1221).

## Christ Makes All Things One in Himself

Monday’s reflection centered on Ephesians 2:14: ‘For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both one.’ Pope Francis teaches that conflicts cannot be ignored or concealed, nor should we lose our bearings in them. Some respond with confusion and dissatisfaction, making unity impossible. But there is a better way: the willingness to face conflict head-on, resolve it, and let it become a step toward new progress. Christ has made all things one in himself— heaven and earth, God and humanity, time and eternity, body and spirit, persons and society. The sign of this unity and reconciliation is peace. The Gospel always begins with peace, and the risen Lord greets his disciples with ‘Peace be with you,’ because he has overcome the world through the blood of his cross. Yet this reconciliation must begin within us—in our minds and hearts—through patience and healing.

## Personal Peace: Forgiveness and Reconciliation

We all face personal challenges with peace. Bill shares that as a young man, he did not see his father from age four or five until after his mother’s death at age twenty or twenty-one—many years marked by a sense of abandonment. That lack of peace was painful. But God gives peace, and Bill was able to forgive his father, who later visited them in Florida in his elderly years. Bill cherished those visits, especially knowing his father met his grandson. He encourages those with family conflict: seek peace, and you will find it in God.

## Mary’s Fiat: The Holy Spirit and the Handmaid of the Lord

Today’s prayer focuses on the fifth day of Advent, December 19, and Mary’s response to the angel: ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God’ (Luke 1:35). Mary says, ‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word’ (Luke 1:38). Bill offers a brief meditation, praying: ‘O God, you desired that your Son take flesh in the virginal womb; grant that we, beseeching you, may know him as a man like us and share in the gifts of heaven through Jesus Christ, our Lord.’ He then prays the Our Father and Hail Mary, concluding with the Doxology and the Prayer to Jesus.

## Keep Your Eyes on the Prince of Peace

Tuesday’s reflection draws from the book *Prepare His Way*, focusing on hope, healing, justice, and peace. The title is ‘Keep Your Eyes on the Prince of Peace,’ referencing Matthew 5:9: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.’ Bill quotes Pope Francis, St. Thérèse, and Fr. Hengelbeck, urging: Do not give up working for peace. Remember that peace you help build is not of this world. Do not be distracted by the noise of war, suffering, or cruelty in the news—those do not foster true desire for peace, which must arise from love, not shame or power. Keep your eyes on Jesus: who did not cling to divine power, refused to turn stones into bread, did not rule from a height, but touched the sick, healed the blind, forgave sinners, died alone and rejected, became poor with the poor, and was rejected with the rejected. He is the source of all peace. And where is this peace found? In weakness—in our brokenness, insecurity, anger, and fear—because there our self-sufficiency is stripped away, and we are forced to rely on God. Where we are most vulnerable, God’s peace enters mysteriously.

## The Visitation: Joy, Faith, and the Church’s Hope

Today is also the feast of the Visitation, December 20. Bill reads Luke 1:39–45: Mary hastens to the hill country to visit Elizabeth. As Elizabeth hears Mary’s greeting, the child leaps in her womb, and she is filled with the Holy Spirit, exclaiming, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!’ She asks, ‘Why should I be honored with a visit from the mother of my Lord?’ and declares, ‘Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.’ Bill reflects that the Church is radiant with joy awaiting Christ, who comes like dew on a dry soul. He closes with the Liturgy of the Hours prayer for the Visitation and the Rosary prayers.

*Christ has made all things one in himself, and peace—true, divine peace—is found not in avoiding conflict or weakness, but in surrendering to God in them, just as Mary did: ‘Let it be to me according to your word.’*