Episode Transcript  

One

Kids Fighting

One of the most painfully stereotypical family scenes is the road trip, where the mom and dad are in front, and the kids are in back, and the kids are always fighting. And what does dad always say? “I will pull over this car right now if you kids don’t stop fighting.” Because the family can’t get where it needs to go if the kids are fighting. And that’s why the children of God shouldn’t fight. We’re supposed to be peacemakers. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.

Two

Victims – not causes of Strife

The Beatitudes seem contradictory at first, but they are actually true when you understand them correctly. For example, Jesus says we’ll be blessed if people say bad stuff about us, if they revile us, and Jesus also says we’ll be blessed if we’re peacemakers.

So which is it? It’s both. We’ll only be blessed for the persecution and anger directed at us if we are doing everything we can to reconcile with the people who hate us. But just being hated, just being spoken against, that doesn’t mean you’re blessed. It might just mean you’re a jerk.

Too often, we think of ourselves as martyrs because there are so many people who seem out to get us. That could be because we are extremely virtuous. But more likely it’s because we’re really annoying and overbearing people. So before we get to those final beatitudes describing the blessedness of persecution, we have to do a deep examination of conscience, and see: Are we really being peacemakers?

Three

Responding to Abrasiveness with Gentleness

The ultimate mark of a Christian is that he tries to love his enemies. A Christian doesn’t fight fire with fire. He fights fire with peace and meekness. As St. Paul wrote the Romans, “If possible, on your part, live at peace with all… if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink…Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good.” (12:18-21).

In other words, we must fight evil with its opposite, good. That means: When someone else is nasty, you are nice. When someone is abrasive, you are gentle. When someone is arrogant and obnoxious, you are humble and hold your tongue. When someone is cranky, you are cheerful. When someone is loud, you are soft-spoken. That’s what it means to be a peacemaker, in the home, in the parish, in the workplace, and online. 

Is that what we’re doing? 

Four

Resisting Partisanship

It’s also important to remember that being a peacemaker means avoiding partisanship. Partisanship is being so strongly committed to one side, group, or way of doing things that we become blind to the whole truth, unwilling to listen to others, and ready to defend our position at all costs, even treating the other side as the enemy. We must resist the temptation to form into little groups of “us” against “them.” And the best way to prevent that kind of partisanship from forming is to watch how you speak. 

There is a saying that is very helpful in this context: “Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.” That’s a good rule of thumb for a Christian. Discuss ideas with your friends. You can even discuss events with your friends. But don’t discuss people. The temptation to create a kind of small-scale Cold War, where there are two groups of mutually opposed Americans, or Catholics, is too great. 

Pursue the truth by talking about ideas together; that creates unity. Don’t gossip about people; that creates division.

Five

Make Peace if You Want to Approach God

A dad who’s driving the car will sometimes have to stop the car because his kids are fighting. Their fighting demands that he put on the brakes. And Jesus says the same thing. If you’re trying to get close to God, and you realize that you have some division with your neighbor, something where you haven’t tried everything to bring about peace, then put on the brakes and try to make peace.

Matthew 5:23-24, “Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” So make peace in the back of the car. Then you can continue on your journey to Heaven. 

We’re supposed to be children of God, so we should act like it by not fighting with our brothers. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.”

Suggested Resolutions:

Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you. 

• Ask yourself who you need to make peace with. Extend an olive branch by inviting someone to coffee, or to take a phone call, even if it’s just to spend time together again.

• Consider the saying, “Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.” Try to apply that to your conversations this week, leaning away from speaking ill of others and just discussing ideas.

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