Tag: Beatitudes

How to satisfy hunger and thirst

“One of the passages that never failed to comfort me when I was feeling especially down was the list of blessings Jesus proclaimed to his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount.”

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Matthew 5:6 ERV

Great blessings belong to those who want to do right more than anything else.
    God will fully satisfy them.

Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International

  • rice paddy with people in asian hats and a water buffaclo

In her memoir, FIRE ROAD- the Napalm Girl’s Journey through the Horrors of War to Faith, Forgiveness and Peace ,  author  Kim Phuc Phan Thi  wrote,

“One of the passages that never failed to comfort me when I was feeling especially down was the list of blessings Jesus proclaimed to his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount.

There he says,

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.”  (Matthew 5:6)

I would run my finger along those phrases, wondering if those words could really be true. If I pursue your ways, God, will you really satisfy that which is hungry in me?

What exactly did I hunger for back then? That which we all crave, I suppose:

  • safety and security
  • provision and unshakable peace
  • hope in the quietest of moments
  • the sense of family, so far from home.”

Read more about Kim’s memoir; my review is at this link-

FIRE ROAD- the Napalm Girl’s Journey through the Horrors of War to Faith, Forgiveness and Peace 

Fire Road was published by Tyndale House Publishers. I received a complimentary copy of the book for review purposes from Tyndale House Publishers.

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This post is part of a series based on verses from the Sermon on the Mount in the Bible book Matthew. Here are links to others-

The surprising blessing of discomfort

How to be blessed, happy, and healthy

Opportunities to do good

sharing words of faith, hope, and love

This post used affiliate links, at no extra cost to you, using these links will help us support the HEART of health all over the world. Thank you!

Dr. Aletha 

faith, hope and love

St Peter’s Church: A Historic Landmark in New York City

For many years, St Peter’s had become primarily a service church, a kind of parish-away-from-home for thousands who filled the area each workday.  Then, after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, both St Peter’s and her chapel, St Joseph’s in Battery Park City, were used as staging grounds for rescue and recovery operations.

updated December 18, 2025

St Peter’s Church Our Lady of the Rosary

I took this photo in August 2013, the only time I have ever visited New York City. I didn’t know anything about the church, but it caught my attention, despite the two tall skyscrapers towering over it.

Above the entrance, looking out over New York Harbor is a white marble statue of Mother Elizabeth Seton sculpted by Robert E. Gaspari. 

Francis Cardinal Spellman dedicated the shrine on September 8, 1965.

Elizabeth Ann Seton occupies a unique place in the history of the Catholic Church in the United States. She established the first free Catholic school for girls in the United States and founded the first American congregation of religious sisters, the Sisters of Charity. 


Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

In 1975 she became the first American-born saint to be canonized by the Vatican.

New York City-September 11, 2001

For many years, St Peter’s had become primarily a service church, a kind of parish-away-from-home for thousands who filled the area each workday. 

Then, after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, both St Peter’s and her chapel, St Joseph’s in Battery Park City, were used as staging grounds for rescue and recovery operations.

“We were the first place they were bringing all the emergency equipment. Everything was in disarray.

Supplies were piled six feet high all over the pews, bandages, gas masks, boots, hoses and cans of food for the workers and the volunteers, many of whom were sleeping in the pews on bedrolls.” 

then-pastor Fr. Kevin Madigan

The Church celebrated Masses occasionally, but only for the rescue workers and those few others with credentials to enter the area.

In 2015, the Parish of Our Lady of the Rosary was merged back into St. Peter’s Parish to form St. Peter-Our Lady of the Rosary Parish.

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, both churches suspended in-person services to protect their parishioners and the community.

Another post set in New York City

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Dr Aletha