Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God

[...]Do you know who are the peacemakers Jesus is talking about?

They are not the kind of people who simply love peace and quiet and cannot bear rows, the kind who are naturally easy-going, but, deep down, just do not want to be disturbed or have any bother.

Neither are peacemakers those good people who, trusting in God, do not react when they are provoked or insulted. Peacemakers are those who love peace so much that they are not afraid to intervene in a conflict so as to bring peace to those who are at odds with one another.

Only those who possess peace in themselves can be bearers of peace.

We must be bearers of peace first of all in the way we behave moment by moment, living in harmony with God and doing his will. Peacemakers strive furthermore to forge bonds and build up relationships among people, reducing tension and dismantling the 'cold war' that they find in many different places, among families, in work-places, at school, on the sports field, between nations, etc. Even in your own home you may be aware, possibly always have been aware, that your father has not spoken to his brother ever since they once fell out. You know that your grandmother does not say a word to the person upstairs because of the noise she makes. You see the rivalry between your friends at work. Perhaps you yourself often quarrel with others at school: and with your peers, who play the same sport as you, you are not on the best of terms - you find yourself ruled by an overriding desire to be first, to beat everyone else, and it is not simply a wish to match their excellence. If you live in a community you will have noticed how many little, or not so little, disagreements can spring up and grow. Every day, television and radio bring home to you the fact that the world is like a huge hospital, and the nations are like large patients in urgent need of peacemakers to heal tense and intolerable relationships that threaten to cause war, if it has not already happened.

Peace is a particular feature, typical of Christian relationships, which believers seek to establish with the people they are in touch with regularly or those they see only occasionally: These relationships are based on sincere love, without falseness or deceit, without any trace of implicit violence or rivalry, competition or self-centredness. To work so as to establish these kinds of relationships in our world is in itself a revolutionary act. The way people normally relate to one another is entirely different and unfortunately hardly ever changes. Jesus knew how things were and this is why he asked his disciples always to take the first step, without expecting any initiative or response from the other person, without expecting anything mutual: "But I say this to you, love your enemies... and if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others?" (Matt. 5:44-47).

Jesus came to bring peace. Everything he said and did revealed this. However, when this new kind of relationship is established among people, it frequently unmasks false social relationships, revealing the violence that is hidden there. Not everyone is happy when this truth comes out and so there is the danger, in extreme cases, that some people might react with hatred and violence towards those who dare to disturb the present ways of living and accepted structures.

'... they shall be called children of God'. To be given a name means becoming what the name says. Paul called God 'the God of peace' and he greeted Christians with the words ' May the God of peace be with you all'. Peacemakers show that they are part of God's family, they act as his children and bear witness to the fact that, as a document of the Roman Catholic Church says, 'Peace is the fruit of that right ordering of things which God has built into human society.'

How can you live this word of the gospel?

First of all by spreading love in the world. It is significant that Mother Teresa of Calcutta, an exceptional woman who did nothing but love throughout her life, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Then, try to take action, prudently, when you find the peace around you is broken. Often it is just a question of listening with love, and completely, to the two sides who are quarrelling, and a peaceful solution can be found.

You can build peace by never giving up in your efforts to re-build relationships that were spoilt by things that were really nothing at all.

An important means to de-fuse tense situations is the use of humour: A rabbinic text says, 'The kingdom of the future belongs to those who love a good joke, because they are peacemakers among people who quarrel.'

Maybe you can be a peacemaker by setting up, within any organisation or other body you belong to, special projects to promote a greater awareness of the need for peace.

Furthermore, so far as you are able, you could support the work of great and sincere peacemakers, such as the present Pope or others in your own country and in the world.

What matters is that you should not sit still and watch the few days of life you have passing by, without doing something for your neighbours, without preparing yourself properly for the life to come.

12 months ago today I collapsed at work and was diagnosed with the brain tumour! What a year it has been! Full of graces, full of gifts, full of signs of God’s love for me. But there are also temptations and sufferings, such as getting fixated with dates. At the beginning I was told the prognosis is on average 14 month which gives me another 8 weeks. That is a very limited way of looking at thing, because whether that is true or not does not depend on me or anybody, but on the plan God has for me. So in the meantime live fully in the present moment. Today’s motto then is to build peace in the present moment by loving my neighbour!