Day 7 - Sunday, March 22nd
2020 Online
Lenten Retreat
Sunday, March 22
Sunday, March 22
Today's
Scripture
Then let us no longer judge one
another, but rather resolve never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the
way of a brother…. If your brother is being hurt by what you
[do], your conduct is no longer in accord with love.… For the kingdom of God is…a matter…of righteousness, peace, and
joy in the holy Spirit….
Let us then pursue what leads to peace and to building up one
another. (cf. Romans 14.13-19)
Today's
Reflection
“Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God”
This Beatitude makes us think of
the many endless situations of war in our world. Yet we ourselves are often a
cause of conflict or at least of misunderstanding. For example, I may hear
something about someone and I go off and repeat it. I may even embellish it the
second time around and keep spreading it.
And the more harm it does, the more satisfaction I seem to derive from
it. The world of gossip, inhabited by negative and destructive people, does not
bring peace. Such people are really the enemies of peace; in no way are they
“blessed”.
Peacemakers truly “make” peace;
they build peace and friendship in society. To those who sow peace Jesus makes
this magnificent promise: “They will be called children of God” (Mt
5:9). He told his disciples that, wherever they went, they were to say: “Peace
to this house!” (Lk 10:5). …If there are times in our community when we
question what ought to be done, “let us pursue what makes for peace” (Rom
14:19), for unity is preferable to conflict.
It is not easy to “make” this
evangelical peace, which excludes no one but embraces even those who are a bit
odd, troublesome or difficult, demanding, different, beaten down by life or
simply uninterested. It is hard work; it calls for great openness of mind and
heart, since it is not about creating “a consensus on paper or a transient
peace for a contented minority”, or a project “by a
few for the few”. Nor can it attempt to ignore or disregard conflict; instead,
it must “face conflict head on, resolve it and make it a link in the chain of a
new process”. We need to be artisans of peace, for building peace is a craft
that demands serenity, creativity, sensitivity and skill.
For Your Reflection
Take a moment to think about the words, phrases or
ideas that struck you in today's reflection.
Then think about these questions:
-- On a scale of 0(low) to 6(high) rate yourself as a peacemaker.
-- Has your desire and ability to make peace changed or grown over time?
-- In what ways do you destroy unity and peace? In what ways do you build unity and peace?
-- Where is there a need for peace and unity in your life right now?
Then think about these questions:
-- On a scale of 0(low) to 6(high) rate yourself as a peacemaker.
-- Has your desire and ability to make peace changed or grown over time?
-- In what ways do you destroy unity and peace? In what ways do you build unity and peace?
-- Where is there a need for peace and unity in your life right now?
O Lord, We will find it hard to feel and show any real concern for those in
need, unless we are able to cultivate a certain simplicity of life, resisting
the feverish demands of a consumer society, which leave us impoverished and
unsatisfied, anxious to have it all now. When we allow ourselves to be caught
up in superficial information, instant communication and virtual reality, we
can waste precious time and become indifferent to the suffering flesh of our
brothers and sisters. Help me, O Lord, to accept this truth and allow it to
reshape my life.
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