Pilgr-image 12 - Persecution

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kind of evil...

Just as the values of Madison Avenue, Wall Street, and the Pentagon conflict with the gospel, so too with Jesus and the institutions of his time.  – Jeanne DeCelles

There’s a definite connection between this beatitude and the one that came before it.  The last beatitude spoke of being peacemakers but what does “peace” mean here in the Sermon on the Mount?  Is it simply an absence of conflict?  Is it that people aren’t disagreeing or arguing?  Is it that we can sit through a dinner without some tension arising?  Or is it something different?

You can probably guess that I see it as something different and I have come to understand what the Bible says about peace as being something different from how we normally use the word.  In the Hebrew scriptures, the word we translate as “peace” has a much deeper meaning – it is the Hebrew word, shalom, which has a meaning about the restoration of how all things are supposed to be.  Shalom is the idea of how all things in this world begin to reflect the nature of the One behind it all.  So, not only does it mean people being in healthier, better relationships, but it means the opposition to oppressive systems in the world that foster poverty, famine, division, and hatred.  Sometimes acting for shalom brings some measure of conflict. 

Taking steps towards shalom can be done through radical steps such as those by Father Óscar Romero, one of the writers in the chapter about these beatitudes.  If you don’t know his story, take some time to read about his courageous actions for the kingdom of God.  But steps for shalom can also take other forms – marching for justice when the opportunity arises, writing letters to people in power calling upon them to act, organizing ways to not only provide for the needs of the disadvantaged but also working on ways to change the systems that foster the disadvantages.  But part of the call of the person journeying the way of Jesus is to act not just for “peace” but for “shalom.”