Matt. 5:1-16
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."
To be honest, this is perhaps the hardest of the beatitudes for me to understand and extrapolate. It is so easy to say, "don't cause fights," or "stay calm when you want to lash out." The Lord Jesus means more than this in his challenge to us, and we can discover the hidden depth by examining his life.
I have not been focusing often on the blessings that are included with each of these beatitudes - in this situation, I believe the blessing reveals the call to holiness embedded. Christ is the first and foremost, the one and only, Son of God. Each of us receive a part in this sonship through Baptism and participation in the Body of Christ, the Church. Therefore, we are co-heirs and brothers and sisters before our heavenly Father. As children of God, we strive each day to live according to the example set by Jesus.
It is fair to imagine Jesus as a fairly peaceful person - he engaged in a few "heated discussions" from time to time, but through Scripture we don't encounter him picking fights or becoming angry out of personal injury or insult (in fact, the only time he is really heated is through zeal for 'his Father's house', the temple). Yet, I would focus on a specific point here - Jesus directly speaks of peace to his apostles at a few key moments.
First, in Matthew chapter 10, the Lord sends his apostles out to cure diseases and illnesses, and to proclaim the kingdom of God. He tells them, "As you enter a house, wish it peace. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you" (10:12-13). He then follows this in verses 19-20 with, "When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." We see something similar echoed in the Gospel of John, chapter 14, where the Lord says, "I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name--he will teach you everything and remind you of all that (I) told you. Peace 12 I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid" (14:25-27).
In both instances, Christ's "peace" is directly related to two points - first, being sent to do the will of the Father, to proclaim the good news, to preach Christ to the world. Second, the Holy Spirit. The "peace" of God seems to be synonymous with an anointing of the Holy Spirit upon someone's life and work. When the apostles are sent to proclaim the truth, they are not to fear or worry, for what they must say is already with them and in them through the Holy Spirit, and the courage and wisdom to speak will be with them as the Spirit rests upon them and dwells within them.
One other instance of "peace" in Scripture that I think brings all of this together is Christ's words after the Resurrection. John 19:20-22 says, "On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, 'Peace be with you.' When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. (Jesus) said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.' And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the holy Spirit.'"
The Lord specifically reveals all three of these imporant aspects of a life as a child of the Father in these short words. His two gifts to the disciples are one and the same, his peace and the holy Spirit. How he repeats himself! He is driving home this good gift, being so clear. Twice he says "peace be with you" and then follows it with "Receive the holy Spirit." This is the way in which he expects the apostles to "go," to be "sent" - they receive from him the Spirit and are made able to go fearless before all men in the name of the Lord.
For us today, if we wish to be peacemakers, and to live the blessing of a 'child of God' in this life, we must first and foremost begin with a life in the Holy Spirit. This is how we will develop a spirit and disposition of peace in every circumstance. The courage and fearlessness, as well as the consolation and hope, the faith and the wisdom we need for daily living as children of God are fully supplied through the grace and love of the Spirit. Consider our Blessed Mother! She was the preeminent child of God, the daughter so like his own heart, the one pure of all sin, and bearer of the one and only Son of God. Was she not filled with the Holy Spirit?! Was her life not a constant state of communion with him? It was. She was. So therefore we have both the example of Christ and his mother, that if we call upon the Spirit and seek to be so filled each day, we will learn to live in holiness as the beatitude promises, as a child of God.
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created.
And You shall renew the face of the earth.
Amen.
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