peace be with you!

Back in our Catholic school days, wonder | wander | women's favourite parts of the Mass were always the hymns and the part where the congregation turned to each other and said "Peace be with you."

St. Silas Church, Pentonville

This ritual comes from an ancient Christian tradition called the Kiss of Peace. The first Christians greeted each other this way, based on records of how Christ and his disciples greeted each other. Eventually it became part of the Mass.

Even Jesus' disciples Peter and Paul were allowed to exchange the Kiss of Peace before being dragged off to their separate martyrdoms.

Farewell of Saints Peter and Paul,
Alonso Rodriguez, 16th century.

Now the Kiss of Peace has a more neighbourly reputation. It helps to heal the little quarrels between friends and family and reestablish the relationship...or so I liked to think when I was in church.

Many of our hymns were also about peace, such as the one adapted from St Francis' prayer:

Make me a channel of your peace

Where there is hatred, let me bring your love

Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord,

And where there's doubt, true faith in You. 

But my favourite is a joyous little song that can be adapted to a secular version: Let there be peace on earth. I loved this song in school, and when I was feeling bored or jaded in Mass it always had the power to move me.

Changing a few words makes it a personal mission for our times, and I sang this to myself just the other day as I was walking home: 

Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.

Let there be peace on earth - the peace that was meant to be. 

With Earth as our mother, siblings all are we. 

Let me walk with my siblings, in perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me, let this be the moment now.

With every step I take, let this be my solemn vow:

To take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally...

Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me!

The greater community, whether church, town or society, depends on peace and the tolerance and love of our neighbour. Whether or not we go to Mass, we want to hold that wish for each other: Peace be with you.

Banbury Town Hall, Oxfordshire