*
**Do you have a peacemaker in your family; someone who can patch things up when one relative insults another, or when family members get into a dispute? Well, the Iberian peninsula and all its royalty had a saint to help them out, Elizabeth of Portugal. She was born to the future King of Aragon in 1271, betrothed to the King of Portugal in 1282, and married in 1288. Her brothers were kings of Aragon and Sicily; her son-in-law, King of Castile. So her whole family tended to want their way, being kings! She, on the other hand, was devout, even as a child. She is quoted as far as understanding her role in life: “God made me queen so that I may serve others.” And she served in many ways, but most notably as a peacemaker by stopping a civil war between her husband and son and as well as stopping a war between her son and son-in-law. Legend has it that in the civil war she rode on a mule between the two sides to prevent combat. She even negotiated a peace treaty with the Queen of Castile. After her husband died in 1325, she became a Third Order Franciscan, retired to a convent, and died in 1336.
Kings often have huge egos. We also tend to have huge egos, inflated by pride and self-righteousness. When we perceive a comment as an insult or even a disagreement with a cherished belief, we tend to lash out, causing pain and suffering. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Mt. 5:9). Many times he gives us those peacemakers to calm the waters and, even sometimes, to deflate our egos. If we have egos the size of royalty, may God send us peacemakers, such as St. Elizabeth!
*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saint_Elizabeth_of_Portugal_(1271%E2%80%931336),_by_Spanish_(Madrilenian)_School.png
**https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Rainha_Santa_em_Alvalade_(Roque_Gameiro,_Quadros_da_Hist%C3%B3ria_de_Portugal,_1917).png
No comments:
Post a Comment