Beatitudes of Hope - Happy Are the Peacemakers

As we enter Holy Week, which beatitude do you hope to live and radiate? Over the last six weeks, our Into the Deep writers selected a Beatitude that reflected how they find hope in living the call and embracing the promise of that Beatitude.

I signed up for the last week of the series and selected “happy are the peacemakers” for my reflection. I am amazed at God’s providence, as I believe this reflection on peacemaking is placed perfectly at the end of our series. To be a peacemaker, one must embody all the other beatitudes we reflected on.

As I reflect on the Beatitudes, I realize I need a poverty of heart and spirit to know with certainty that God is in control of my life, our country, and our world. This understanding gives me peace. I need a pure heart to see God in all things, all people, all situations. Seeing God in everything and everyone fills me with peace. I need to hunger and thirst for righteousness to know with certainty that God looks upon all people with the same love and mercy. This assurance of absolute equality provides peace for my soul. A spirit of meekness opens me completely to God, allowing God to give me a new heart, a trusting heart, a kind heart. Only with this new heart can I receive peace. Times of mourning are needed so I can come to know God’s gift of consolation in my sorrow and hardship. Experiencing again and again that God’s timing is not my timing but is always the right time fills me with peace. And finally, God’s call to reciprocate mercy for mercy received brings me to my knees. Knowing that God unconditionally forgives and shows me mercy and all God asks in return is to pass it on to others, overwhelms my soul with the grace of peace.

The beatitude I hope to live and radiate is peacemaking. I’ve been asking God to speak to me and through me about living as a peacemaker. God has graciously shown me that I have been called to be a peacemaker all my life: seeking peace in the climate of anger in my childhood home, resolving conflicts as a Human Resources professional, bridging and bringing together multicultural communities in parish ministry and in life, and, as a woman of color, reconciling and healing wounds of discrimination and racism. Looking back, I can see how God wanted to use me as a peacemaker. Admittedly, I wasn’t always up for the task, and I have often failed to extend peace in my encounters with others. And yet, I understand this is my human nature growing in age, wisdom, and grace.

I am deeply aware of God’s call to use my words to heal, to offer hope, and to stand in the gap of differences and division. I am deeply aware of God’s call to be a peacemaker, especially in these times. We have all heard the saying, “we can’t give what we don’t have.” To be a peacemaker, I must fill my soul, my heart, my body, and my mind with peace. And not the peace the world offers but the peace that Christ promises to give us. (John 14:27) It is a peace that sustains us when confronted with injustice, hardship, sorrow, even in desolation. I only need to rest in God’s presence each day and allow God to pour this divine peace into me. Then, and only then, with a hope and a prayer, and a great deal of God’s grace, along with a poverty of spirit, a pure heart, a hunger and thirst for righteousness, a meek posture, my experiences of mourning, and a merciful attitude, will I be able to live and radiate as a peacemaker.

As we walk with Christ through Holy Week and into Easter and through our Easter season, may we all strive to be like Christ and live as people of the Beatitudes bringing light and hope to the world.

Going Deeper:

• Review the Into the Deep reflections from this Beatitudes of Hope series.

• Reflect on St. Francis Prayer for Peace.

• Discern which beatitude you are being called to live and radiate.

Photo by: Kim Scott

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Kim Scott

Kim joined the Ignatian Ministries team in September of 2024. Kim has enjoyed a 20-year career as a Human Resources executive. As she transitioned into mid-life, her desire for finding a deeper meaning and purpose for her life led her to the grace of adoption and then to begin a new career in church ministry. For almost 20 years, Kim walked with countless souls as a spiritual mentor, helping others discover their inner life and unique meaning and purpose. Kim describes her life’s purpose as being a force and a voice for hope and healing. She lives in Henderson, NV with Gary, her husband of 30+ years and Kiara, their young adult daughter.