To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Commentary on the Gospel – November 20, 2025
What Leads to Peace
What is it that leads to peace? And what kind of peace is Jesus speaking about? It is clear that Jesus is not talking about a mere ceasefire or the simple absence of war. If Jerusalem fails to understand what leads to peace, it is because it cannot open its eyes to the presence of the Prince of Peace—the One who brings peace within her walls (cf. Ps 122:7), the peace God grants to all people of goodwill (cf. Lk 2:14), which is nothing other than the presence of salvation through the Incarnation of the Son of God. Jesus brings peace within us because He reconciles us with God and with ourselves; and He brings peace outwardly, because those who are interiorly reconciled become themselves agents of peace and reconciliation for others.
The announcement of Jerusalem’s destruction—likely a post eventum prophecy written after the year 70—should not be read as a threat of divine punishment for failing to accept Christ, but rather as the sad consequence of infidelity and the inability to welcome the fulfillment of God’s promises.
This threat of destruction hangs constantly over us as well. Not because God will destroy us if we are unfaithful or deaf to His Word. It is entirely possible to live in this world in sin and still prosper: “I envied the arrogant, seeing the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and sleek. They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued like others” (Ps 73). But it is true that when we distance ourselves from the source of life, we inevitably move toward our own ruin, no matter how well life may seem to go. Salvation is God’s free gift—but it is a gift we must accept. And that acceptance takes place not only through doctrines, norms, and values (though these matter), but above all through welcoming the person of Christ, who is our peace (Eph 2:14).
The Christian life is a true spiritual battle, one that requires our cooperation, our positive disposition, discernment, and strength of heart. Mattathias Maccabee and his sons symbolize this struggle—one that others carried out (as we have reflected these days) through the witness of martyrdom. And we can also understand it in a moral and spiritual sense. The forces that oppose us require fortitude so that we do not bow before the new idols that try to seduce us—sometimes with soft words, other times through threats or violence. It is this struggle to welcome Christ and remain faithful to His Word that leads us to peace.
Fraternally,