Print Study Guide

In this first week, make sure all your group members have a copy or are in the process of ordering Searching for and Maintaining Peace. Establish a meeting time to start off your book club.

Suggested Meeting Schedule:

1. Start off with a prayer and welcome the peace of His presence.

2. Cultivate a safe and supportive space for sharing by establishing some group rules.

3. Reflect and share:

• • Why do I want to participate in this book study?
  • Do I have any particular expectations for the book study?

4. Let’s start diving into the book! Together, read the summary of the book below.

“Experience will show you that peace, which fills your souls with charity, the love of God and of your neighbor, is the road that leads directly to eternal life.” ~ Juan de Bonilla

Summary:

Searching for and Maintaining Peace was written by Fr. Jacques Philippe, a member of the Community of the Beatitudes in France, who is also a well-known spiritual writer and retreat master.  The purpose of the short book is to assist the readers on the way to growth in holiness by developing greater love for God and neighbor through acquiring and keeping peace of heart. The agitation so prevalent in our modern world affects our spiritual lives and hinders this development.  Fr. Jacques Philippe first helps us to understand how essential peace of heart is for are growth in holiness.  Then, he discusses several situations where peace is frequently lost and how to approach them.  Finally, he shares insights from different saints regarding searching for and maintaining peace.

5. Watch this week’s video reflection from Sister Mary Joanne.

6. Reflect and share:

• • What are the specific areas in my life where I hope to find greater peace?
  • In what ways am I preparing to receive the graces God has in store for me?

7. We are already starting to really seek the peace that only God can give us! Are you excited yet? Now it’s time to commit! Commit to a reading schedule for the next three sections of the book. Make sure to also have an open communications line to support and remind each other in between each meeting.

8. End with a prayer and share the sign of peace ?

Print Study Guide

For meeting schedule tips, please see “Week 1”.

“I have told you these things so that you will have peace in Me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage!  I have conquered the world (John 16:33).”

“The more our soul is peaceful and tranquil, the more God is reflected in it, the more His image expresses itself in us, the more His grace acts through us.”

“…spiritual combat consists precisely in this: defending one’s peace of heart against the enemy who attempts to steal it from us.”

“If we seek peace as the world give it, if we expect peace in accordance with the reasoning of the world, or with the motivations that accord with the current mentality that surrounds us (because everything is going well, because we aren’t experiencing any annoyances and our desires are completely satisfied, etc.), then in tis certain that we will never know peace or that our peace will be extremely fragile and of short duration.”

Summary:

To make progress in the spiritual life, we must believe that any good we do in life comes from God’s grace alone, and not from ourselves.  We must allow God to work in our lives by cooperating with His grace and this becomes more possible, the more our souls are peaceful and tranquil.  We frequently lose peace because we try to act on our own, without God’s grace.  Peace must begin in our own hearts because we cannot pass on to others what we do not have ourselves.  Acquiring inner peace comes about through fostering continual conversion of heart and prayer.  We must be convinced that our entire life is marked by constant spiritual combat, but that Our Lord has already won the victory, and our goal must be to adhere ever more deeply to Him.  All the reasons that cause us to lose our peace are bad.  The peace offered to us by God is not that of the world.  In order to attain interior peace, we must have goodwill, the determination to always do God’s will.  However, this does not mean that we will be perfect – only that we strive to love Him and live the life of virtue and allow Him to gradually detach us from everything contrary to His will.

Reflection Questions   

1. What is one particular insight I have gained from this section?

2. Why is it so important for us to acquire and maintain interior peace? What obstacles stand in my way?

3. Am I aware that my life is in a constant state of spiritual battle? How can I fight victoriously in this battle?

4. Why will I never know peace if I seek it as the world gives it? How is the peace of the world different from that offered by God?

5. Do I truly believe God wants me to be a saint, and that I can become one with His help? What does it mean to me to be a saint?

Print Study Guide

For meeting schedule tips, please see “Week 1”.

Saint quote: St. John of the Cross: “God gives in the measure that we expect of Him.”

“Our great drama is this: Man does not have confidence in God.”

“…the Lord can leave us wanting relative to certain things (sometimes judged indispensable in the eyes of the world), but He never leaves us deprived of what is essential: His presence, His peace, and all that is necessary for the complete fulfillment of our lives, according to His plans for us.”

“In abandoning myself to God, I experience in a concrete fashion that ‘it really works,’ that God makes all things work together for my good, even evil, even suffering, even my own sins.”

Surrender Novena

Summary:

We frequently lose our peace due to fear caused by situations that affect us personally, including our health, family, professional life, moral life, and spiritual life.  We worry about the past, present, and future.  Trying to rely on our own resources or those of the world is the surest way to lose our peace.  We must turn to God in trust.  The devil tries to make us believe that God wants to deprive us of happiness and that total trust in Him will leave us lacking.  This inherent mistrust of God is a consequence of original sin.  We must evangelize ourselves, believing the truth that God will provide for all we need for our sanctification, through our words and actions of trust.

Reflection Questions 
1. What is one particular insight I have gained from this section?

2. What are some of the reasons we fear trusting/abandoning ourselves completely to God? Why do I personally fear trusting/abandoning myself to God?  What are some of the ways recommended that I can overcome this fear?

3. What areas or circumstances in my life bring me the most anxiety, where I need to abandon myself more fully to God?

4. Are there any situations in my own life where I have experienced God drawing good out of suffering/evil?

5. Why does contemplating Jesus on the cross inspire absolute confidence in God?

Print Study Guide

For meeting schedule tips, please see “Week 1”.

“If we could, with a single interior glance, see all the goodness and mercy that exists in God’s designs for each one of us, even in what we call disgraces, pains and afflictions, our happiness would consist in throwing ourselves into the arms of the Divine Will, with the abandon of a young child that throws himself into the arms of his mother.” ~ St. Marie of the Incarnation

“It is necessary to forget oneself and continually direct one’s soul toward God and leave it calmly and peacefully before Him.” ~ St. Francois-Marie-Jacob Liberman

“Peace is born of humility.”  ~ St. Francis de Sales

Summary:

The saints help us to understand more clearly how peace leads us directly toward Heaven, as it nurtures love of God and neighbor in our souls.  Their words and example show us that true peace is found in God through total abandonment to His will.  Also, growth in true humility is essential to peace.

Reflection Questions 

1. Is there anything in this section which particularly struck me?

2. Why is it so important to live in the present, avoiding inordinate concern over the past and the future?

3. What is one insight from one of the saints that builds upon something shared by Fr. Jacques Philippe in an earlier section?

4. What does it mean to “forget oneself” and why is this such an important part of acquiring and maintaining peace?

5. Who is one of my favorite saints? In what ways does he/she inspire me to grow in holiness and closeness with God? How has she/he helped me to overcome obstacles in your own life, with peace and confidence in God?

Print Questions

As we come to a close of our book club, it’s essential to reflect on the beautiful graces so we can grow in our spiritual life!

Reflection Questions 

1. What is my biggest take-away from this book study?

2. What are 1-2 practical resolutions/goals I can make toward acquiring and maintaining peace in my life? How can I maintain accountability with these resolutions/goals?

3. How can I share/witness my newly found understanding/experience of acquiring and maintaining peace with others?

Thank you for joining us on our Carmelite Book Club! You made it! We are praying that these graces you’ve received continue to pour out into your life. Peace be with you!