Happy those who hunger and thirst for what is right: they shall be satisfied”

Over the last two weeks we have seen an upsurge of protest and resistance remarkable in a time of Covid-19 lockdowns. Throughout the United States, and then across the world, thousands of people have braved infection to confront a policing system that has repeatedly acted in a racist and illegal manner, demanding that US cities and states recognise that ‘Black Lives Matter’. The killing of George Floyd was nothing new. But this time the protests have gone further than previous racist incidents involving police.

It echoes for Christians the call of Jesus in the Beatitudes, a call as old as the faith, and indeed a call that resonates across faiths and ideologies. The promise in the Beatitudes is that these calls come from God and that it shall be satisfied.