In this thread, I encourage everyone to post excerpts from the homilies and writings of St. Gregory Palamas concerning Pre-Lenten and Great Lenten themes of love, forgiveness, repentance, and striving for theosis.
On Peace With One Another is a pre-Lenten homily delivered by St. Gregory Palamas. It is listed as Homily One in the book, Saint Gregory Palamas: The Homilies.
Surprisingly, this first homily of many is very pertinent today as it deals with crimes of hatred and violence in the cities. At that time, in the 13th century, we would have expected perhaps more of a Christian milieu, but even in the "Golden Age" of Christianity, there was no peace. In order to understand ourselves and others and to grow in our Holy Faith, it is well worth purchasing and reading this book.
Paragraph 3 contains the heart of St. Gregory's message on peace:
We have one baptism, brethren, for regeneration and divine birth, one faith, one hope, one God, who is above all and through all and in us all. In His love He gathers us together to Himself and makes us members of one another and of Himself. But by the devil's cooperation, hatred towards one another entered in, forcing out love, or rather, it entered in not once but many times, breaking up the unity that was ours in our love for one another and for God. This hatred not only paralyses the city by dividing its inhabitants, but it has also ranged them in warring factions and stirs up civil revolts, irreparable disorders and troubles. It makes fellow-countrymen into antagonists and renders our city like one taken by the enemy. Hatred stirs it up piteously against itself, deceiving it into making war on itself, until this accursed discord turns it into a grim riddle.
Saint Gregory Palamas: The Homilies, Ed. and Trans. Christopher Veniamin, Mount Tabor: 2009, p. 2 #3
I am not copying any more from this homily so as to avoid copyright violations.
As we approach Great Lent, let us pray for an increase of Divine mercy, that we ourselves may become peacemakers during these troublesome times. The Gospels warn us that there will be a great loss of faith as the Second Coming of Christ nears, thus we must pray that we are not an occasion of temptation for others to lose their own faith.