“Peace on Earth: A Freemason’s Reflection on Christmas”

 “Peace on Earth: A Freemason’s Reflection on Christmas”

A Freemason’s reflection on Christmas explores how ‘Peace on Earth, goodwill to men’ still calls us to live with kindness, fairness, and mercy in a season often overshadowed by commercialization.”

 

You know, when I was younger, I used to hear that phrase everywhere at Christmas: “Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men.” It was in the Christmas carols you heard on the radio, on the Christmas cards you received, even painted across banners hanging on banks and hardware stores in town. Somewhere along the way, though, it feels like we stopped saying it. Christmas has certainly changed over the years. What was once a season centered on faith, reflection, and goodwill has, for many, become busier, flashier, and more commercial. A cultural holiday where the deeper spirit risks being overshadowed. And yet, I think it’s worth going back to the basics. That old phrase still has something to teach us.

At its heart, the word of the angels’ proclamation is about two things that belong together: peace and love. Peace isn’t just the absence of conflict, and love isn’t just a warm fuzzy feeling. As Bishop Robert Barron, echoing St. Thomas Aquinas, puts it: “To love is to will the good of the other.” And here’s the plain truth, sometimes wishing someone else’s good is difficult, even painful. It might mean forgiving someone who hurt us, listening patiently when we’d rather argue, or giving up our time when we’d rather be doing something else. Those moments of difficulty are where love proves itself real. And when love is lived out like that, peace begins to grow.

Jewish wisdom echoes the same message. Rabbi Akiva taught that “Love your neighbor as yourself” is the great principle of the Torah. Rabbi Elya Lopian explained that real love isn’t about what we take, but what we give, even when it’s hard. Across traditions, the message lines up: love is action, not emotion. And peace is the fruit of that action.

In Freemasonry, we call this Brotherly Love. It’s not just a nice phrase we say in Lodge; it’s a commitment to treat people with dignity and care. That means practicing three simple but powerful virtues:

• Kindness - showing warmth even to those who disagree with us.
• Fairness -by treating all people fairly.
• Mercy - forgiving when bitterness could take root.

Living those out isn’t always easy. Kindness can be difficult when someone has wronged us. Fairness can be painful when it means admitting we were wrong. Mercy can feel impossible when resentment seems justified. But those are the very moments when Brotherly Love shines the brightest. And when we choose it, we’re not just being “nice.” We’re building peace.

Think of the lodge as a lantern in the dark. Its light isn’t meant to be hidden, but to shine outward, guiding others toward reconciliation and renewal. When kindness tempers our words, when fairness shapes our judgments, and when mercy softens our hearts, we become builders of peace. The angels’ proclamation … “Peace on earth, goodwill to men”, is not just another seasonal slogan. It’s a blueprint. Goodwill is the action. Peace is the outcome.

Now this is where harmony comes in. Peace is the foundation, it is the quiet after the storm, the cease fire of the conflict. But harmony is what happens when differences don’t just stop clashing, they start blending. It’s like music: peace is silence, but harmony is the voices joining together in balance like a choir. Allowing us all to work together in unity.  In our lodges, homes, and communities, peace makes room for harmony, and harmony makes peace flourish.

Christmas itself is God’s great act of mercy by entering the world humbly, to will our good and bring peace. If we choose kindness, fairness, and mercy in our dealings with one another, we carry that same bright light into our dark and fractured world. And when we do, peace is no longer forgotten. It becomes visible again, alive in our homes, our lodges, and our communities.

So maybe this year, instead of just talking about peace, we can choose it. We can practice love even when it’s difficult or painful, and let that love bear the fruit of peace. We can carry that old phrase forward, not as nostalgia, but as a living truth. And if we do, then “peace on earth, goodwill to men” won’t be forgotten. It’ll be alive again… in us, through us, and all around us. That’s how Brotherly Love prevails. That’s how peace becomes real.

“Peace On Earth, Goodwill to Men”