Reflecting on the Beatitudes: The Power of a Peacemaker

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God (Matthew 5:9)

My mom LOVES the beatitudes, which I have probably inherited from her. My favorite memory of being a peacemaker occurred several years ago. We went up to NJ to visit our family for Christmas. During our visit it seemed like EVERYONE was always arguing with each other. For new years my Mom decided to buy an ice cream cake from CARVEL (the best ice cream cake ever). My mom LOVES to get cakes and have the bakery write WEIRD phrases on them. The previous year we wrote “Merry New Year.” Of course this year with all the fighting going on my mom got “Blessed are the Peacemakers” put on the cake.

(Not our cake, but very similar)

It really was God placing the words in my mom. We went to Carvel in the afternoon and hadn’t even seen or talked to any of our relatives that day. After we bought the cake we went to my grandma’s and showed my grandma and she thought it was GREAT! Not too long after that my Aunt came over crying because her and my Uncle got into a really bad argument (about something no one probably remembers). My mom showed her the cake she got and she died laughing. It really brightened her spirits.

Later that evening we took the cake to my Aunt’s house for after dinner and just set it on the table without saying anything. We went into the other room and my Uncle went into the room the cake was and just said, “HA HA VERY FUNNY!” Like we had known about the fight the whole time (which we didn’t).

I’m not sure that my mom’s cake helped stop the fighting and create peace amongst my family that night but it did give everyone a good laugh. Although one thing it did was it got everyone to TALK about how we can be peacemakers and the beatitudes. I can’t tell you what exactly was discussed but I can tell you to this day, close to a decade later, we still talk about that cake at family gatherings. Don’t worry my aunt and uncle made up and are still happily married. Several years later my uncle started taking his faith much more seriously. He started teaching the confirmation prep classes at his church and to this day he goes to daily mass every morning.

I think that cake really helped me to understand what a peacemaker is. Sometimes when I read the bible I think, “How does this relate to my life?” The word peacemaker is such a broad term. I almost think of someone with a magic wand and a lot of wisdom giving out advice to people. I used to think I could never be a peacemaker. But as I have grown in my faith I have learned that anyone can be a peacemaker. That is what the beatitudes are all about. It’s using them to help others in many different ways, no matter how big or small.

How are you a peacemaker in your daily life? How are you using the beatitudes to live out your faith?

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Beth Anne blogs about her two passions: Couponing and the Catholic Faith at The Catholic Couponer. She strives to help her readers learn to save money by couponing so they have extra money to get out of debt, go on a vacation, or give more to the less fortunate.  She recently relocated to Florida from Texas and loves exploring her new city and taking weekend trips to Walt Disney World.

Missed a Beatitudes Post? Never fear! Read them here!

Read Post 1: “Poor In Spirit” here.

Read Post 2: “Those who Mourn” here.

Read Post 3: “What’s this nonsense about being meek?” here

Read Post 4: “Having Our Fill” here

Read Post 5: “Blessed are the Merciful” here

Read Post 6: “Being Pure of Heart” here

Read Post 7: “Blessed are those who are persecuted” here

Related posts:

1. Reflecting on the Beatitudes: Being Pure of Heart
2. Reflecting on the Beatitudes: Blessed are the Merciful
3. Reflecting on the Beatitudes: What’s this nonsense about being meek?
4. Reflecting on the Beatitudes: Having Our Fill

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