St. Matthew Catholic Church

This week we light the fourth candle of our Advent Wreath, which represents peace. Growing up, there was a song that we would always sing on New Year’s that really brings light to this message of peace. It is called, “Let there be peace on Earth,” and it speaks about how the peace on earth, which many of us pray for and long for, has to begin with a personal choice to choose that peace, and to bring that peace to the world that is tuck in turmoil.

The song, originally written in 1955 for a children’s choir in Long Beach, California, has stood the test of time. The song was written by a woman who was going through a tragic miscarriage and wrote it after discovering the life-saving joy of God’s peace and unconditional love. As we celebrate both the 4th Sunday of Advent and Christmas this weekend, we are to remember all the more that the greatest gift to us is the gift of God Incarnate in the person of Jesus, the Christ!

This song and this time of year should serve as a reminder to us all that there is never a reason to allow despair to hold us captive, but instead to seek true peace, which can be found in Christ, and emulated through the Body of Christ, of which we are all members!

-Fr. Danny Grover