Reflection
Anyone can love peace, but Jesus doesn’t say, “Blessed are the peacelovers.” He says “peacemakers.” He is referring to a life vocation, not a hobby on the sidelines of life. And he means a vocation that includes risk. Too often, the advocates of pacifism today are more noted for the things they won’t do than for the things they are willing to suffer for the cause of peace. And the advocates of “just war” often find too many wars acceptable. The making of peace, as Jesus showed in his own life, can result in great conflict. Such a ministry of reconciliation will cost something, and it will often make us misunderstood in a world that knows violence better than peace.Jim Wallis
Prayer
Blessed are the peacemakers.
Action
Is there one area of your life where you need to reclaim peace? What should you do? Be aware of violent behavior no matter how minimal. Try to reflect peace as you live your ordinary life today.
Suggested Reading
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Matthew 5:9
And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
James 3:18
Each one of us is called to be an artisan of peace, by uniting and not dividing, by extinguishing hatred and not holding on to it, by opening paths to dialogue and not by constructing new walls.
Pope Francis
Peace is the fruit of love, a love that is also justice. But to grow in love requires work — hard work. And it can bring pain because it implies loss — loss of the certitudes, comforts, and hurts that shelter and define us.
Jean Vanier
World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not just mere absence of violence. Peace is, I think, the manifestation of human compassion.
Dalai Lama
Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.
John F. Kennedy
Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.”
Albert Einstein
This is the ultimate weakness of violence: It multiplies evil and violence in the universe. It doesn’t solve any problems.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Frankly, our present worldview and the institutions based on that worldview take violence as a norm, and shifting that basis could lead to a leap forward in cultural evolution.
Michael N. Nagler
We realize that, at any given moment, we can behave with either violence or compassion, depending on the strength of these seeds within us.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Peace is not something you wish for, it is something you make, something you are, something you do, and something you give away.
Robert Fulghum
The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world will know peace.
Mahatma Gandhi
Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.
Siddhārtha Gautam
Peace is present right here and now, in ourselves and in everything we do and see. Every breath we take, every step we take, can be filled with peace, joy, and serenity. The question is whether or not we are in touch with it. We need only to be awake, alive in the present moment.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.
Amelia Earhart
If you cannot find peace within yourself, you will never find it anywhere else.
Marvin Gaye