The challenge of peace is the challenge of Christ

"Peacemaking is not an optional commitment. It is a requirement of our faith. We are called to be peacemakers, not by some movement of the moment, but by our Lord Jesus. The content and context is set, not by some political agenda or ideological program, but by the teaching of his Church." U. S. Catholic Bishops , "The Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response"

This morning as I prepare to leave for work I take a moment to pin a small white ribbon and dove to my coat. The dove is holding an olive branch. It is a peace pin and I have offered to make them for anyone who would like one. They are not in great demand, and I wonder when peacemaking became a pathology.

Certainly, for me and for many other Christians and people of faith, this is a time of tears and disbelief and frustration, crying not only for the loss of innocent life on both sides, especially the lives of our sons and daughters, nieces and nephews and grandchildren, but also for a people who can envision no way to peace except through violence.

Our tears are for the Prince of Peace, whose birth makes a nice greeting card but whose beatitude, "Blessed are the peacemakers" has become like dust in the desert wind. This is the Christ we seem to have forgotten.

Today, as we continue our walk down the long and impoverished road of war we are in danger of forgetting the witnesses of peace that God has sent before us -- people like Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day, Mohandas Ghandi, Thomas Merton, St. Francis of Assisi, Oscar Romero, Edith Stein and Jean Donovan.

Their pacifism did not stem from some liberal political ideology or the embracing of a life of privilege and excess, but from an emptying of self which left them open to the fullness of God -- a God of peace who has made it clear time after time that no lasting peace can come from war. As a nation and as a Church we have honored these prophets time and again, their words echoing on the pages of our books and newspapers, in homilies and speeches. But their voices fall silent in our hearts --- because peace is easier said than done and what we do is always a response of the heart.

Today it seems we have forgotten the words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "True nonviolent resistance is not unrealistic submission to evil power. It is rather a courageous confrontation of evil by the power of love, in the faith that it is better to be the recipient of violence than the inflictor of it, since the latter only multiplies the existence of violence and bitterness in the universe, while the former may develop a sense of shame in the opponent, and thereby bring about a transformation and change of heart."

Today it seems we have forgotten that one of our best loved presidents, John F. Kennedy, who spoke those famous words, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country," also reminded us that, "mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind. War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today."

So what shall we do? If war is not the answer than what and where is that elusive power so necessary for bringing peace into the world?

It is here among us. It is a Sabbath power. It is the power of our liturgies, the power of our worshipping the God who made mankind in God's image. We find it in our communities when we gather together for prayer and in our hearts when we are quiet long enough to hear God speak. It is the power that comes from loving Jesus more than father or mother.

It is the power of pledging allegiance to the God of Life who exhorted us to "Seek peace and pursue it." (Psalm 34:15)

____________________________________

Mary Morrell is the author of Angels in High Top Sneakers, from Loyola Press.

Contact

Diocese of Metuchen
http://www.diometuchen.org NJ, US
Mary Morrell - Associate Director, Office of Religious Education, 732 562-1990

Email

mmorrell@diometuchen.org

Keywords

peace

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