Our celebration of All Saints begins with Vespers. As part of the service we sing the Beatitudes, which we then hear again proclaimed in the gospel at the vigil and then at Mass. This helps keep them in my mind all through the feast.
Sometimes approaching the Beatitudes can be a bit bewildering, I don’t know which one to focus on and focussing on all of them together can be a bit overwhelming.
Today I haven’t had that difficulty, each time I encountered the Beatitudes the same words leapt out at me:
“How blessed are the peacemakers, they shall be called the children of God.”
They have particular resonance because I’m so aware of how desperately the world needs peace at this time. So many people are having their lives torn apart in these times when war is causing so much pain and suffering in so many places.
It’s left me reflecting on this essential call to make peace. It can sometimes appear to be a soft option, but that’s not the case. It requires commitment, courage and strength. To be peacemakers we have to find ways of working round personal hurts and grievances, however justified.
We’re called to be open and vulnerable, to acknowledge the hurts we carry and to do all we can to heal the hurts of others. Peacemakers are called to reach out across barriers that can seem insurmountable in trust and hope.
Where is Christ calling you to be a peacemaker today?
