La Iglesia celebra hoy el día festivo de San Ireneo de Lyon, quien es quizás el más atractivo y humano de los Padres de la Iglesia Primitiva (de los primeros 3 o 4 siglos). Fuerte defensor de la fe contra las herejías, era, al mismo tiempo, un pacificador entre los cristianos del Este y del Oeste. Se mostraba rebosante de amor hacia los que erraban; aunque, al mismo tiempo, era firme en materia doctrinal y fiel a la verdadera tradición. En esto hacía honor a su nombre: “irene” en el griego significa “paz.”
Recordemos que la oración es como un motor, nos da la fuerza para actuar. Rezar por la paz es acercarse a Jesús, al que llamamos “Príncipe de la paz,” Él, que se mantuvo en la Cruz hasta la muerte para demostrarnos que el amor es más fuerte que el odio.
Es tarea de cada uno construir la paz día a día, comenzando por estar en paz con uno mismo, luego, con sus amigos y conocidos, antes incluso de rezar por la paz mundial. A la Madre Teresa le gustaba decir: “Nuestros actos de amor no son sino actos de paz… y la paz comienza por una sonrisa.”
***
Sometimes there can be a tremendous gap between appearance and reality. Just as there is more to some people than meets the eye, others may turn out to be less than they first seemed. On occasion in the Gospels, Jesus warns against false leaders whose ambitions are quite the opposite to what they promise. Outwardly they may look like sheep, but underneath they are ravenous wolves; the image they project is false and deceptive. For Jesus, the real test of our heart’s desire is the kind of fruit that we bear: “You will be able to tell them by their fruits.”
The fruit borne by today’s Saint, St. Irenaeus, was peace (his name comes from the Greek word “irene,” which is literally translated “peace”). He spent his life dealing with false interpretations of the Christian messages, whether it was the Montanists, or the Gnostics or others. All these movements tended to bring great divisions and were a cause of confusion among many of the faithful. St. Irenaeus took to heart Jesus’ prayer for unity in John 17, 20-26: “…that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me.” St. Irenaeus was convinced that unity and peace would be the way that people would come to recognize the true identity of Jesus. And he was right!
Truly, the most potent witness we can give of who Jesus is, is that we who claim to follow Him do so as part of a fellowship, dedicated to harmony and willing to work together. It is said that in the early Church there was a saying: “See those Christians how they love one another!” That was one of the most striking characteristics of the Church which the non-Christians noticed. Namely, that people who came from different ethnic and social backgrounds could live together in such harmony.
