From
a sermon on the beatitudes by Saint Leo the Great, pope
Those who love your law shall
have abundant peace
 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called sons of God. This blessedness, dearly beloved,
does not derive from any casual agreement or from any and every kind of harmony,
but it pertains to what the Apostle says: Be at peace before the Lord,
and to the words of the prophet: Those who love your law shall enjoy abundant
peace; for them it is no stumbling block.
Even the most intimate bonds
of friendship and the closest affinity of minds cannot truly lay claim to
this peace if they are not in agreement with the will of God. Alliances based
on evil desires, covenants of crime and pacts of vice—all lie outside
the scope of this peace. Love of the world cannot
be reconciled with love of God, and the man who
does not separate himself from the children
of this generation cannot join the company of the sons of God. But those
who keep God ever in their hearts, and are anxious to
preserve the
unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, never
dissent from the eternal law as they speak
the prayer of faith. Thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.
These then are the peacemakers;
they are bound together in holy harmony and are rightly given the heavenly
title of sons of God, co-heirs with Christ. And this is the reward
they will receive for their love of God and neighbor: when their struggle
with all temptation is finally over, there will be no further adversities
to suffer or scandal to fear; but they will rest in the peace of God undisturbed,
through our Lord who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit
for ever and ever. Amen.
—Saint Leo the Great, pope
(Office of Readings,
Monday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
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