Monday of the 7th Week in Ordinary Time
February 24, 2014 8:30am
Saint James in today’s first
reading is reflecting on wisdom, on the person who is spiritually wise.
Among other things, he says that
wisdom is “peaceable” and that the
good news of Jesus “is sown in peace for
those who cultivate peace.”
James’ point is that we are to be
persons of peace – peacemakers.
One of our Catholic authors, Jean
Vanier, reflects on this.
Vanier says that being persons of
peace or peacemakers means that we are open and welcoming to others who are
either inside or outside our community, our culture, and our faith group.
It means that we are open and
welcoming to those with whom we struggle or whom we may not like, especially
those who are intellectually, culturally, or psychologically different from us.
To be a peacemaker means not to
condemn or speak badly of others and not to rejoice when bad things happen to
them.
Peacemaking is to hold others in
prayer.
It means that we approach people
not from a pedestal, in other words, not from a position of being above or
better than, but rather from a posture of listening, understanding, and humility.
Peacemaking also means that we
try to reveal to others who they are, that we try to assist others in
understanding what they are really saying or doing, and that we allow others to
do the same for us.
It means helping others grow in
knowledge, wisdom, freedom, and responsibility, and letting them do that for us
too.
Peacemaking means realizing our
oneness with others, and this is humility.
It means that we journey with
others and that we grow too.
They are some of the reflections
of Jean Vanier about wisdom, about being a wise person.
They strike me as a good reflection
on the letter of Saint James and as helpful insights for us today.
