Peace is a challenge we must each undertake

By Mary Regina Morrell
Catholic Online

"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." United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

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, while I have been pinning this dove on for years, today I am moved to tears by the simple ritual, frustrated by just how little we have learned since Jesus first walked the earth.

My stance for peacemaking, for ending the war, for finding humanizing ways of dealing with immigrants and illegal immigration, has often garnered me the label of liberal, and much worse. That doesn't bother me, since I consider myself in good company with the One who taught me. But I do wonder, sadly, when peacemaking became a pathology. Certainly, for me and for many other Christians and people of faith, these past few years have been a time of tears and frustration, as we continue to keep vigil for the loss of life on both sides -- as a war, both within the nation and without, drags on.

We preach and teach, and, necessarily, pray for a people who can envision no way to peace except through violence, hoping that our fellow Christians, at least, will remember 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, as we so often forget the lessons of our history as a nation; a nation and a people who suffered deeply whenever fear caused us to turn on each other.

As we struggle with our anger and our prejudices - whether it be against illegal immigrants or immigrants in general -- we should not forget that a mere 150 years ago the Supreme Court passed the Dred Scott Decision, mandating that blacks could never be citizens. Four years later the United States Civil War began, taking the lives of more than 600,000 of its own people. We study history for a reason.

Today, as we continue our walk down the long and impoverished road of fear, we are in danger of forgetting the witnesses of peace that God has sent before us -- people like Dorothy Day, Mohandas Ghandi, Thomas Merton, St. Francis of Assisi, Oscar Romero, Edith Stein, Martin Luther King, Jr., 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 be fueled by fear or hatred. 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, especially since our actions are always a response of the heart.

So what shall we do? 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, or self.

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

Contact

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

Email

mmorrell@diometuchen.org

Keywords

peace, challenge, immigrants, dove

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