The gentle shall  inherit the land (Ps 36:11). This land is the one of which we have often spoken, holy Jerusalem, which will be freed from this alien condition and will live forever with God and from God. “They will inherit the land.” And what will be their delight? And they will delight in an abundance of peace.” Let the wicked man delight here in the amount of his gold, the amount of his silver, in the number of his slaves, and in the number of his palm trees, roses, wine-bibbing, and his sumptuous and luxurious banquets. Is this the power you envy, the flower that delights you? ... 

What will your delights be? “And they will delight in an abundance of peace.” Your gold will be peace; your silver will be peace; your estates will be peace; your life will be peace; your God will be peace. Whatever you desire will by your peace. Here below what is gold can’t be silver; what is wine can’t be bread; what is light for you can’t be drink. But God will be all of that to you. You will eat him so as not to hunger; you will drink him so as not to thirst; you will be enlightened by him so as not to go blind; you will be supported by him so you do not faint; he who is whole and undivided will possess you whole and undivided. You will not suffer any limitation because someone else possesses all this with you. You will have it all, and he will have it all, because you and he will be one thing, that one thing that he shall have who possesses you. These are the things reserved for the peaceful person. (EnPs 36/1, 6; PL 36, 362-63)

Rev. Joseph A. Komonchak, professor emeritus of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the Catholic University of America, is a retired priest of the Archdiocese of New York.

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