Dear Friends,
Saint Bernard of Clairvaus died on this date in the year 1153. Though his last years were darkened by the burden of the Second Crusade of viollence into the Holy Land, this wise Cistercian monk and abbot has left us wisdom still well worth considering. It was Bernard who said that 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions.'
Speaking on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, Bernard shared words that seem quite apropos to this present moment and the current fractured state of the world. He said:
"“Blessed," he says, "are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God" (Mt 5:9). Consider carefully that it is not the people who call for peace but those who make peace who are commended. For there are those who talk but do nothing (Mt 23:3). For just as it is not the hearers of the law but the doers who are righteous (Rom 2:13), so it is not those who preach peace but the authors of peace who are blessed.”
Saint Bernard of Clairvaus died on this date in the year 1153. Though his last years were darkened by the burden of the Second Crusade of viollence into the Holy Land, this wise Cistercian monk and abbot has left us wisdom still well worth considering. It was Bernard who said that 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions.'
Speaking on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, Bernard shared words that seem quite apropos to this present moment and the current fractured state of the world. He said:
"“Blessed," he says, "are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God" (Mt 5:9). Consider carefully that it is not the people who call for peace but those who make peace who are commended. For there are those who talk but do nothing (Mt 23:3). For just as it is not the hearers of the law but the doers who are righteous (Rom 2:13), so it is not those who preach peace but the authors of peace who are blessed.”
John P. McGinty+
Dean,
Mercer School of Theology
Garden City, NY
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