Today’s Second Reading tells us that the “peace of God . . . will guard [our] hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Guarding?  Isn’t that for soldiers and police? But peace guarding our hearts? In another place in Scripture we read that Christ is our peace (Micah 5:4 and Eph. 2:14). Yes, Christ guards our hearts, for Christ is the source (Chardin speaks of “field”) of love into which all are attracted. His Spirit is the power of love.

With less than a countdown of days until Christmas, peace may be far from us, replaced by worry and agitation and frenzy. Christ with his peace will come to us when we respond with the gift of our lives. Give God today your Christmas to-do list. Make it your Christmas wish list. Jesus, please help me check off the last-minute buying and wrapping and baking. If we let Christ in, He will guard our hearts with peace. Then we will have made our list and checked it twice—once for “I got it done!” and once for “Thanks, Jesus, you let me do it in peace.”