LET IT aLL sTART hERE
For Catholics who care...
Are we born or are we made peacemakers?
I wondered about this as the choir sung our congregation out through the open doors of the church and into the bright sunlight. I blinked and felt a bit sheepish as I sang along: “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” I have never been known for being a peacemaker. As a matter of fact, I pride myself as being a warrior. In my world, if you didn’t fight you didn’t survive. I had dangerous childhood. I never felt safe. Later in life, I became a Domestic Violence statistic and I learned quickly to be threatening before I was put in the position to be threatened. It was like this: If my back was up against the wall I innately knew how to puff myself up, as a frightened bird would, to create the illusion of being big and bold and scary. That survival tactic, having had to rely on it more often than I care to admit, became a habit and then the habit became a way of life. I am tough and ready to strike back. Is it possible for me to become a peacemaker? If I were to look inside the tool bag of a peacemaker what might I find? Would the bag be filled with words like these: “I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” or would there be the promise: “…Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God”? I think so. And inside the bag too, folded around Christ’s teachings, God’s Mercy would also be found-- for without His grace the peacemaker can do nothing. Jesus is the ultimate arbiter. It is through His willingness to: Instruct the ignorant; counsel the doubtful; admonish sinners; bear wrongs patiently; forgive offenses willingly; comfort the afflicted and pray for the living and the dead, that we have a model of what it means to be Children of God. (The Church has come to identify these acts as The Spiritual Works of Mercy) Its quite simple: The peacemaker must be as merciful as Christ himself is. Mercy, as it is considered here, is said to be a virtue influencing one’s will to have compassion for another. Compassion is needed for the black- hearted enemy as well as the persecutor for they suffer internal strife that far exceeds the harm they inflict. Can I become a peacemaker? Yes, because nothing is impossible for God. But first I'll want to reach deep inside my bag and grasp the greatest tool God has offered me: love. I have His love, which gives me the grace to love. And if I choose to love God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my mind and I can love my neighbor as myself (Matt 22:36-40), then I will become one of Jesus’ cherished peacemakers one day.
8 Comments
jackie white
10/30/2015 01:20:34 pm
Evelyn,
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louise von brockdorff
10/30/2015 04:39:41 pm
So, you are right, when you know deep within you that you are loved unconditionally by God....then you want to share that love with others...AND when you love....you are indeed a peace maker....WWJD....embraces us with love ...no matter what we do!
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11/2/2015 05:02:37 pm
Evelyn,
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Dennis
11/2/2015 05:37:47 pm
Wow Richard, I'm not sure I understand, fully, what you are suggesting. Could you explain in more detail ? Thanks!
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Ellen Moran
11/3/2015 08:54:36 am
My personal spiritual battles involve little peacemaking accept that I accept what the Lord's will is for me and move on.I am at odds with many people's,philosophies,life styles and shenanigans in general.How do I live and let live?If they are Catholic,I discuss,depending on the discourse,if they are secular or protester's,I try to discuss,at least what we have in common.
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Dennis
11/11/2015 05:44:54 am
Richard, I was hoping you would not abandon us. Alot of what you say is accurate . How, as peacemakers, do we acquire what we need in our tool bag?
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Patricia Blanck
11/11/2015 02:08:06 pm
Dear Evelyn,
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Dennis
11/17/2015 05:20:41 am
Richard Anthony, I keep going back to your post. I would love to feed all those who are hungry. If everyone was eating well, the world could live as one community in peace. I also believe, though, that feeding the body is not enough. I'm with you that taking care of all people's physical needs should be first and money certainly fuels that engine. Humans, I know, have needs that are not physical. Maybe that is were we as peacemakers arise. With love, respect, and admiration of others as equally important to us on an individual, community, country, and world level! I don't have extra money and can not fathom how to get enough to feed the multitudes.
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