“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God”. (Mt 5,9)

Do you know who the peacemakers are that Jesus is talking about?

They are not the people that we call peaceful, the ones who prefer a quiet life and can’t stand arguments. They might seem naturally conciliatory but this can often hide the fact that they don’t want to be disturbed or have any trouble.

Peacemakers are not even those good people who, because they trust in God, do not react when they are provoked or offended. Peacemakers are people who love peace so much that they are not afraid to intervene in conflicts to obtain peace for those who disagree with one another. […]

Anyone who possesses inner peace can be a bearer of peace.

First, we need to be bearers of peace in our own behaviour, all the time, by living in harmony with God and by doing his will.

Peacemakers then strive to create bonds and establish relationships among people. They help reduce tension and break down the state of “cold war” they find in many places, such as the family, at work, at school, in sports, between nations, etc. […]

Television, the newspapers and the radio describe every day how the world is like an immense hospital and nations are often like huge patients who are in extreme need of peacemakers to heal the strained and impossible relationships that threaten to break out into war, when it is not already happening. […]

Peace is a characteristic of the kind of Christian relationships that believers try to establish with the people they are in contact with, or who they meet occasionally. They are relationships of sincere love without falsehood or deception, without any form of implicit violence or rivalry, competition or selfishness.

To work in order to establish this kind of relationships in the world is revolutionary. In fact the relationships that usually exist in society are of a completely different nature and, unfortunately, often they do not change.

Jesus knew that human coexistence was like this, and that is why he asked his disciples to always take the first step without waiting for other people to take the initiative or respond, and without expecting reciprocity: “But I say to you, love your enemies … And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others?”. […]

?”. Jesus came to bring peace. His whole message and behaviour show this.

However, this new relationship established among people is often what exposes false relationships in society and reveals their hidden violence.

People don’t want this truth to be discovered and there is a danger, in extreme cases, that they respond with hatred and violence to anyone who dares to disturb the current state of affairs and the ways they are organized.

Jesus, the bearer of peace, was killed by human violence. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God”

How then will you live this word of life?

? First of all, by spreading love everywhere in the world. […] Then you will cautiously intervene when peace is threatened around you. Often, all it takes is to listen with love to those who quarrel, for as long as is needed, and a peaceful solution is found.

A very effective means of reducing tension among people is humour. A rabbinical text states: “The future kingdom belongs to those who willingly fool around because they are peacemakers among people who quarrel”.

Ancora non ti darai pace finché rapporti interrotti, spesso per un nonnulla, non siano ristabiliti.

Furthermore, you will not be at peace until relationships that were broken over the slightest thing are re-established. Perhaps you can be a peacemaker in a group or association you belong to, by setting up activities aimed at developing a greater awareness of the need for peace. […]

What matters is not to stand still, letting your few days of life go by without doing something for your neighbours, without preparing yourself properly for the life that awaits you.

Chiara Lubich

(da Parole di Vita, Opere di Chiara Lubich, Citta Nuova Editrice, Roma 2017, pp. 196-197)