The Loretto Way: Loretto Celebrates Work of Peacemakers

How do we live in this world and build a society of love and peace? Our world is ruled by powers that divide and destroy. What can believers do? What to do when negative power surrounds us? God chose to become powerless so that the fulfillment of Jesus’ mission becomes dependent on us. How did Jesus’ story end? On a cross. And there we in Loretto must stand. And from there we must act.

The Beatitudes tell us what is important to Jesus. His hope is revealed in each one. Read Matthew 5: 3-10 and see where each Blessing leads …

Blessed are the poor in spirit
Blessed are those who mourn
Blessed are the meek
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice
Blessed are the merciful
Blessed are the pure in heart
Blessed are the peacemakers
Blessed are you when people persecute you and utter evil against you falsely.
Rejoice and be glad, your reward will be great in heaven.

Think about the people you see or hear about in the media who are suffering as you reflect on each of the Beatitudes. It is not a stretch to identify with one or more individuals or groups who experience the above blessings. We have all seen the victims of the war in Ukraine, people denied justice, refugees seeking safety, and the list goes on. What do they want? Peace, justice, stability, freedom. They want what we all want: the “reward in heaven” that Jesus talked about.

This week on Loretto’s Facebook page we will focus on the efforts within Loretto and throughout the world to pursue the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. From each day’s posts, we hope you will get a picture of what Jesus would say in regard to the situations highlighted and our response. The Gospel of Matthew summarizes Jesus’ teachings. Imagine the stories and the questions the early followers shared. Today we continue to ask similar questions. Matthew ends his Gospel by saying what they, and we, must do as peacemakers: “Go and teach all nations.”