Peace begins with interior struggle

Saint Josemaria says that peace in society starts with each person's stuggle to be a better person. "To have peace in our hearts we have to win our interior struggle, because we are all inclined to sin. We were born like that... And if we don't fight, we will fall and lead a really unhappy life."

Clip from a get-together with Saint Josemaria held in Spain.

Why have you recently been laying so much stress on winning the last battle?

My daughter, it's not only recently -- I've always said the same! Because everyone longs for peace and nobody wants to fight. Or rather, they want to make war on society instead of learning how to get on with others... If people look one another in the eyes, and talk, and study problems together, they can find a solution that's acceptable to everyone. But they don't. They argue and insult each other. That's all wrong! We have to find peace in our own hearts first. Otherwise: "peace, peace, and there was no peace," Scripture says. To have peace in our hearts we have to win our interior struggle, because we are all inclined to sin. We were born like that, "proni ad peccatum," inclined to sin. And if we don't fight, we will fall and lead a really unhappy life. We'll always be losers and look like it, we'll have the wrong criteria and we'll always feel unhappy.

We each have a battle to fight, including me. When I was 14, I struggled as I do now, except that the devil's horns were a bit less twisted than they are now. Because we have to fight until the last minute.

We each have a battle to fight, including me, I'm just 7 years old, and when I was 14 I struggled as I do now at 7, except that the devil's horns were a bit less twisted than they are now. Because we have to fight, there's no other way, my children, until the last minute. What would happen if we didn't need to fight, if we didn't know that deep in our hearts there are all those bad things that make us capable of committing every error and every horror? I feel so sorry for people who behave badly, because I could behave even worse than them if I didn't struggle. So we have to struggle, and then, with God's grace, we'll win! And with victory comes joy. Joy is a treasure that belongs to Christians, and especially the Christians in Opus Dei.