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I've slowly (very slowly) been praying my way through the book of Isaiah. I've spent the last few years praying through all of the books of the New Testament (with a few breaks here and there for Pslams, Songs, and repeats), and Isaiah is the first book I decided to tackle in the Old. I love every opportunity to hear a reading from Isaiah at Mass because it's so richly prophetic. As I read today's Gospel I was reminded of the passage from Isaiah that I read a few days ago, Isaiah 11. 

Jesus says, "If this day you only knew what makes for peace..." and then He goes on to describe the persecution and unrest that is to come. Isaiah 11:6-9 describes a world of peace.

"The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
    and the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
and the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
    and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall feed; 
    their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The suckling child shall play over the hole of the asp,
    and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
They shall not hurt or destroy
    in all my holy mountin;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea."

The chapter goes on the talk about the peace between God's holy ones and the destruction of the evil forces. 

And how is it that this peace comes about? 

"There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the spirit of counsel and might,
    the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord" (Isaiah 11:1-3a).

Jesus Christ is the usher of peace. He's even called "Prince of peace" in Isaiah 9:6. Yes, Jesus Christ and the Spirit of the Lord are what make for peace. Don't be deceived as the Jew's of Jesus's time were. We are not promised earthly peace in this lifetime. As long as the powers of darkness remain, our suffering is assured. Jesus didn't come to establish an earthly kingdom as the Jews expected, but a heavenly one. The peace He promises us is spiritual, and it's given through the gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and fear of the Lord (wisdom, understanding, sounsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord). 

So if you're searching for peace in this lifetime, make room for the Holy Spirit. If you're confirmed, then these gifts are already present within you, but you must give the Holy Spirit permission and space to stir them up. I've heard an awesome analogy that confirmation itself is just like pouring chocolate syrup in a glass of milk. The chocolate is there, the milk is there, but it isn't quite chocolate milk. Something needs to stir them together in order for the chocolate milk to reach it's fullest expression. In our lives prayer is what stirs up the "chocolate syrup" of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Prayer, good works, and the frequent reception of the sacraments.