Dom Christian De Cherge was one of seven French Trappist monks killed by militant Islamic extremists in Algeria in 1996. He and his brothers lived, worked, and died in a multicultural environment near a village called Tibhirine in the Monastery of Our Lady of Atlas. A towering witness to Christian charity, he actually referred to his executioner as, “my last minute friend.” In a Christmas homily, Dom Christian once remarked upon what he called the five pillars of peace: patience, poverty, presence, prayer and pardon. It was an attempt, I have always thought, to present the seven cardinal virtues known to Catholic Christians in a fashion understandable to those familiar with the five pillars of Islam. My Christmas wish for all who might read this is that during the season in which we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace, you might find some consolation in an application of Dom Christian’s five pillars to the ordinary events of your holiday life.
Patience: When I ask God to assist me in being patient, I find almost immediate relief of holiday frustrations with myself and those about me. This was true yesterday in line at McDonald’s when a difficult man had trouble paying for his food. Patience reminded me that he was operating at his maximum capacity. I needed patience in a Christmas season line at Starbuck’s, when I reminded myself that getting a Misto was a luxury and not a matter of national security. I lost my temper on the phone last night: I asked for patience dealing with a loved one who asked questions I could not answer about holiday travel plans. (Sorry Mom, the tickets aren’t booked yet.) Apart from the external practice of patience, I asked to be patient with myself internally for having a temper and for being frustrated in the above situations as well. Peace returned.
Poverty: I find that peace departs from me in exponential relation to the number of projects I undertake. Admitting my poverty today means recognizing that I cannot give an invocation at Georgetown’s December graduation, attend Mass with my brothers, and write this reflection all at the same time. Admitting my powerlessness over my several addictions (caffeine consumption and frequent email checking among them) brings peace as well. Simplification of the number of Christmas open houses I attend, the number of gifts to be given, and size of my cup of eggnog force me to practice a continence that reminds me of God. Giving myself permission to say “no” slows me down long enough to enjoy peace in the present moment.
Presence: I must constantly ask myself if I am truly present to the people around me. This Christmas I commit to minimizing my email screen when I am talking on the phone. Presence means showing up at friends’ parties if I said “yes” to attending. Presence relates to patience when I listen to stories about the challenges of parking at the mall: such stories are important to those who tell them. Presence relates to poverty when I give time to my friends and family at gatherings, rather than watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” alone on TV. When I am present to God and His people, I am at peace.
Prayer: Lack of conversation with God turns the stable tripod of mind, body and spirit into a dangerously unstable bipod. As the holidays approach I must build time into my schedule to pray for interior and exterior peace lest busyness of doing overwhelm my relationship with God. Prayer is conversation with our maker. Without regular contact with Him, our relationship suffers in the same way as human relationships do. When I am not disciplined in prayer, I must ask to be patient with myself. Prayer is also poverty: I must sacrifice other things to make time to pray. In my prayer, I am present to God, as he is present to me.
Pardon: When any of the four earlier pillars are absent, I find my peace spiraling away and begin to act unpeacefully towards others. Pardon is essential to peace as well. I must ask pardon for losing my temper about the Christmas travel plans, for being frustrated in the Starbuck’s line, for my overindulgence at the table, for missing scheduled events with my Jesuit brothers, and for failing in my discipline of Advent prayer. To be truly at peace, I must accept God’s pardon of me the sinner, the Easter pardon made possible by the Christmas arrival of His Son. Pardon means recognizing that I am not perfect. Only God is perfect.
This has been a long year. The war in the Middle East continues and we hear that our forces are stretched to their limits. Some among us would like the war to end now, others that it be won soon. Actually, all of us would like both those things at the same time. Patience. The year has seen a mortgage crisis, a steroid crisis, and a continued crisis of trust in the Catholic Church. Poverty. The days ahead will see family reunions, some happy others unhappy. Presence. We will journey through crowded terminals with obnoxious, drunk, and pushy companions. Pardon. In the face of all these challenges, my wish for you this Christmas is that the spirit of peace finds you practicing Dom Christian’s five pillars. Patience, poverty, presence, prayer and pardon. I am finding peace in practicing them right now, in making this prayer for you.
William Blazek SJ is a Jesuit Scholastic teaching medicine at Georgetown University.
