Pope: disarming the heart to be peacemakers
On the Solemnity of All Saints, Pope Francis spoke about the Beatitudes, made relevant more than ever today by war. Noting that “often what we want is not really peace,” but “to be at peace, to be left in peace,” the pope said that the Gospel reminds us that peace does not fall from above, but it is built with “commitment, collaboration [and] patience.” He also called on the faithful to pray for his upcoming apostolic journey to Bahrain.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – In today’s Angelus, Pope Francis spoke to the faithful in St Peter’s Square for the Solemnity of All Saints, saying we must “disarm the heart” in order to become peacemakers.
Commenting on the Gospel passage about the Beatitudes in today’s liturgy, the pontiff noted how much it is far from celebrating “those sisters and brothers who in life were perfect, always straight, precise, or rather ‘starched’.” Contrary to a "picture-perfect holiness”, the Beatitudes of Jesus speak of “a countercultural life, a revolutionary life”.
With respect to today's world marked by war, Francis stressed how “Blessed are the peacemakers” turns the world’s view of peace upside down. “We all long for peace, but often what we want is not really peace, it is to be at peace, to be left in peace, to have no problems but to have tranquillity.”
For the pope, “Jesus, instead, does not call blessed the calm, those who are in peace, but those who make peace and strive to make peace”, for peace does not “rain down from above”; it must be built with “effort, collaboration, [and] patience”.
More importantly, peace does not come “by force and power”. The life of Jesus “and that of the saints tell us that the seed of peace, in order to grow and bear fruit, must first die. Peace is not achieved by conquering or defeating someone, it is never violent, it is never armed.”
The first step to become peacemakers is to “disarm the heart. Yes, because we are all equipped with aggressive thoughts against each other, and cutting words, and we think to defend ourselves with the barbed wire of lamentation and the concrete walls of indifference”.
Disarming the heart is possible only if we accept Jesus’s forgiveness and peace since “being peacemakers, being saints, is not our ability, they are gifts, it is one of his gifts, it is grace.”
Finally, the pope asked if it is better to live like this? Isn't he a loser? Jesus's answer is that peacemakers “will be called children of God” (Mt 5:9).
“[I]n the world they (the peacemakers) seem out of place, because they do not yield to the logic of power and prevailing, in Heaven they will be the closest to God, the most like him. But, in reality, even here those who prevail remain empty-handed, while those who love everyone and hurt no one win”.
After the Angelus, Pope Francis said that he is getting ready to travel to Bahrain on 3 November, entrusting the visit to the prayer of the faithful.
Noting that the key moment will be his participation in the Forum for Dialogue: East and West for Human Coexistence together with many Muslim leaders, the pontiff expressed hope that it will provide an opportunity to help people to grow in the fraternity and peace that the world needs today.
For the latter, Francis renewed his call to continue to pray for peace, and not forget Ukraine maimed by war.
.png)
