How did the practice of wishing the sign of peace to each other during Mass start? I only saw this after I moved here to the United States. I don't recall when going to Mass on Sundays back in Brazil, that the priest told us to wish peace to each other right after finishing praying the Our Father. Jesus didn't tell the apostles to do it! He gives us this peace, through the priest. Why do we need to give it to each other at the Mass? It doesn't make sense to me.

The prayer for peace and the wishing of peace to one another are closely knitted into the fabric of Christianity. The practice definitely traces its origin to the Old Testament, and it has been reinforced by the Gloria sung by the angels at the Nativity, the Lord's own peace messages, his exhortation to the disciples to be the messengers of peace, etc. One can definitely make out that peace was one of the main concerns of the Jews as well as early Christians who had always been fighting external forces. But in the modern world, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, including the Fear of God, Discernment, Wisdom and Knowledge, stand at equal footing. One is therefore inclined to conclude that the wishing of peace which occurs many times during the liturgy could perhaps be replaced with wishing for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. **My question therefore is**: Has the Catholic Church ever considered replacing the "Peace Be With You" salutations in the liturgy with a wish for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit?

We Jesus instructing his disciples in Lk 10:1-5: > After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, ....... “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house " Though the "Shalom" instruction was given only to the 72 disciples, all members of the community are likely to have adopted the practice. The practice over a long period of time, may have been replaced by other forms of Christian salutations like Praise the Lord, and even by secular salutations like Good Morning. My question therefore is: Did the members of Early Church practice the salutation of "Peace to this House", as had been taught by Jesus in Luke 10:5? Inputs from any denomination are welcome.

One criticism I've heard of Christianity repeatedly by devout Jews is that Jesus of Nazareth did not usher in a time of peace - there are still wars, internal strife, and so on. Here is an example, from Rabbi Shraga Simmons in the article Why Jews Don't Believe In Jesus : > "Jews do not accept Jesus as the messiah because: 1. Jesus did not > fulfill the messianic prophecies. [...] Specifically, the Bible says > he will: [...] > - Usher in an era of world peace, and end all hatred, oppression, suffering and disease. As it says: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall man learn war anymore." (Isaiah 2:4)" What are the main ways Christians respond to this argument against Christianity?