“Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9)
Don’t settle for a false peace. Very often what we call peace is just a cover-up, a lie.
Oftentimes, we put forth a false front so others won’t think badly of us. God urges us to face it all- the good, bad and the ugly. Not only in ourselves, but also in surroundings.
God urges us to face up to the reality of old conflicts, and old sinfulness, and the old lack of at-oneness that already exits inside us and in our relations with others.
If our friendships and marriages, our families and communities are to live up to our high hopes, and if our life’s work is to be worthy of us, then we have to let the Lord set us on fire with the energy we call “grace” – which is one part courage and one part love.
With that holy fire warming and strengthening our hearts, there is no part of ourselves that we cannot confront; no sin in us that we cannot face; no failure in us that we cannot deal with.
God’s love for us is unconditional. God loves us no matter what we have done or have failed to do.
With God’s grace, we can now give the truth as a gift, sharing God’s love for us. As we learn to speak the truth in love – first inside us and then outside – and as we accept the challenge first of changing ourselves and then of helping others to change, the peace that God desires for us will slowly come to be.
By accepting what divides us, within and without, we will have begun the building of bridges to join us together. We will have begun the building of the peace that we long for and the peace that we are meant to share.
This is not easy. And sometimes it is very frightening. So let us pray for one another:
May God set us on fire and give us this day the strong, warm hearts of true peacemakers. With grace, may we build God’s peace within and among us! Amen
Peace be with you. Peace in your minds and hearts, families and communities, our country and throughout the world. Blessed are the peacemakers.
