Jesus said to his disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.” // John 14:27

I stood at the kitchen counter and breathed in deeply, trying to shut out the sounds of the family’s morning rush. I said a silent prayer asking for humility and direction to counteract my momentary frustration.

“I am sorry I just barked at you. That was an overreaction. Please forgive me.”

I looked into the eyes of my teenager and handed her a sandwich to cram into the baggie before stuffing it into the lunchbox that dangled from the crook in her arm. She looked at me with a mixture of annoyance and gratitude, a combination that she has mastered in her fourteen short years. After a quick kiss on the cheek and an off-handed, “Um-kay. Love you, mom,” she is out the door.

I have tried to instruct my children that no one can steal their peace—it is something that they choose to surrender when they relinquish their self-control and respond rashly. And yet I fail to consistently model a peaceful heart.

I want to cultivate a peaceful home for my family, and yet I recognize that my attempts to do so invite a worldly peace, rather than the peace of Christ. Turning off the background noise, keeping the home free of clutter, lighting scented candles, and having fresh flowers—these are wonderful practices, but they don’t necessarily invite the peace of Christ.

The peace of Christ comes only when we have a personal relationship with Him. It is cultivated through prayer, not cute pillows for the couch. It is cultivated at the tabernacle, not at Target. It is peace that is cultivated interiorly, rather than externally. Prayer, Scripture, and the Sacraments are the path of peace.

How can you invite peace into your heart and home today?