Working for Peace

 “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight…Forgive your neighbor the wrong done to you; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.”  Sirach 27:30 – 28:1

Hearing the words of Sirach today as war continues to devastate Ukraine, Yemen, Sudan and so many other countries, we can't help but wonder whether we will ever know authentic peace. And today’s gospel (Mt 18 21-35) reminds us that loving our enemies and forgiving those who sin against us needs to happen, not three times like the Rabbis taught, or seven times as Peter suggests, but seventy times seven times if our hopes for peace will fill the world. 

Unless we find ways to remain quiet, reflective and committed to these gospel imperatives, we will be unable to hear the passionate plea of Paul VI on New Year’s Day, 1972.  “If you want peace, work for Justice.” The gospel and the Pope’s challenge are as true today as they were when they were first uttered. I wonder if we can live this way. 

Today, think about what you can do to heal broken relationships in your family or church.

Who do you most admire as a peace maker?

Saints Cornelius and Cyprian

 “He deserves to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation and he built the synagogue for us.” Lk 7: 4-5

Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian were friends, and when the church was under enormous pressure in the third century, their friendship became an important tool for reconciliation and healing. When Novatian insisted that anyone who denied faith, along with murderers and adulterers, could not be reconciled under any circumstances, Cyprian interceded with his friend Pope Cornelius, and Novatian's position was condemned. The fragile nascent church, with only 50,000 believers and 50 priests, was sustained because of the friendship of Cornelius and Cyprian.

Not infrequently, like Cyprian and Cornelius, we do things for friends who ask a favor on their own or their family's behalf. It is not difficult to be gracious, especially when the request is something we do easily or naturally. Jesus is able to hear and respond to the request of the Jewish elders to heal the centurion's sick slave because they asked him to do something as a friend of the Jewish nation.  In the long run, however, while loyalty and friendship captured Jesus' attention, it was the faith of the centurion that moved Jesus to act. 

Not wanting to trouble Jesus with a visit to his home and being very aware of the differences between them, the centurion insists that he is not worthy of Jesus' care. When the centurion further suggests that a word from Jesus will be enough to heal his slave, Jesus uses the centurion's faith to teach the Jews saying, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” Faith, like the centurion's, and friendship and faith, like Cyprian and Cornelius shared, can forge a church of great power and strength.

Today, be grateful for a faith filled friend.

How can a friendship, strengthened by faith, help us live the Gospel more powerfully?

Our Lady of Sorrows

 “Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.” Jn 19:25

In the Office of Readings today, St Bernard of Clairvaux, writing in the 12th century, calls Mary “a martyr in spirit,” because of her compassion, never abandoning her son even on the cross. Bernard writes: “Perhaps someone will say: “Had she not known before that he would not die?” Undoubtedly. “Did she not expect him to rise again at once?” Surely. “And still she grieved over her crucified Son?” Intensely. Who are you and what is the source of your wisdom that you are more surprised at the compassion of Mary than at the passion of Mary’s Son? For if he could die in body, could she not die with him in spirit? He died in body through a love greater than anyone had known. She died in spirit through a love unlike any other since his.”(1)

Standing with others in their suffering, not taking it away, not offering empty words of consolation, not trying to understand it, is a kind of death, a martyrdom. Helplessness is often the price of compassion and Mary, the mother of Jesus and our mother, helps us learn this vital Christian virtue.

Today, perhaps as you gaze at a crucifix, try to stand in solidarity and compassion with all those suffering alone.

Who stands by you compassionately when you are struggling or lost?

The Exaltation of the Cross

 “Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if any who have been bitten look at it, they will live.” Nm 21:8

The cross has almost always been important symbol for Christians. Although controversial at first, because it seemed to focus so much on the violence done to Jesus, the cross soon became the most prominent way for Christians to announce themselves. Not simply a reminder of Christ's gruesome death, the cross is also a invitation to celebrate Jesus' triumph over death, and our assurance that death is not the end of Christian journey.

Displaying the cross publicly or personally should never be a condemnation of others, especially Jews, but a reminder to ourselves and others, that God came among us as human person who not only announced God's love for us in its fullness, but also handed himself over to death as a symbol of his total identification with us at every stage of our journey.

Although we might at times be too casual about it, signing ourselves with the cross is a powerful reminder of Jesus triumph of over sin and death and sign that Jesus, "Having disarmed the powers and authorities, ...made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." (Col 2:15)

Today, make the sign of the cross as you wake and ask for the grace to accept whatever the day brings.

What does the Cross mean to you?

St John Chrysostom

 "The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the Body of Christ? Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one Body, for we all partake of the one loaf." 1Cor 10: 16-17

It is clear in the Gospel that there is little more important to Jesus then the unity of his disciples. Near the end of St John's Gospel he asks his father for a final gift, “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you....that the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." (Jn 17:20-21, 23)

Our unity with one another is the sign that that Jesus came from God and is God. We have only to seek unity with one another in Christ in order to preach the truth of the Gospel that Jesus has come for the salvation of all. Anything that inhibits this unity must be resisted, especially the use of power and wealth as weapons to control others.

St John Chrysostom, who desired only to live simply as a monk, was called to be bishop Constantinople, one of the most important sees in the 4th century. A dynamic preacher, John was alarmed that the lifestyle of the bishops and the wealthy was so distancing them from the poor that the unity of the church was threatened. Setting a very simple table, he challenged everyone to think first of their unity in Christ and not of their ability to eat better than others! Eventually, his pointed sermons so upset the rulers of his day that he was exiled from Constantinople and died.

Today, pray for unity with someone from whom you have been separated.

What do you think are the greatest challenges to the unity of the Body of Christ?

Praying in Discernment

 "Jesus departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve." Lk 6:12

How should believers make decisions? That is the question posed by today's Gospel. Jesus, our model for all things Christian, says little directly about this, but offers us a clear example. By going to a mountain and spending the entire night in prayer before choosing the apostles, Jesus challenges us to do the same. It is not so much that we can or ought to spend entire nights in prayer, but that we take time away from our everyday lives in order to discern what it is God wants us to be and do.

Catherine McAuley, the founder of the Sisters of Mercy, encouraged her sisters to pray beforehand about any decision they needed to make and insisted that every word of the rule they practiced was the fruit of prayer. But it is Catherine's image of prayer as a plant that continues to challenge us today. "Prayer is a plant, the seed of which must be nourished or it will die." Put another way, Jesus and Catherine might say: Water and feed the plants of your faith life with prayer if you expect them to grow.

Today, spend ten minutes more than usual in prayer.

Has prayer with a help to you in making important decisions?

Suffering for Others

 “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake.” Col 1:24

What a complex, even confusing, text we have for reflection today.  Is St Paul glorifying suffering?  A less than careful reading of this text might suggest this, but suffering for suffering’s sake is not a good.  It is a temptation we must avoid.  Suffering for the sake of others can be heroic and a powerful sign of contradiction to those who avoid suffering at any cost.

Early in my ministry as a priest, I met an older man who was helping his wife die.  It was not an easy task. His wife had a form of cancer with external sores that had a terrible odor.  Nevertheless, everyday he visited her in the hospital, gave her a big kiss and asked how her night was.  Though his wife could not answer easily, she always smiled softly and thanked him for coming.  After watching this simple but profound drama, I asked the man to step into the hallway with me. I wanted to ask him how he was doing and tell him how much I admired his sacrifice.  Looking at me a little strangely, he said, “It’s no sacrifice, Father. We have been married for 47 years, and although I was not always the best husband, my wife always supported me, always encouraged me. Coming here each day is a privilege I would not want to miss.”

Today, pray for those who are suffering for others.

How do you understand suffering?  Has someone walked with you in yours; have you had the privilege to journey with others in their suffering?