Violence leads to Violence

 “You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

It is not unreasonable to think, if Jesus lived among us today, that he would be weeping at our inability to build a world where justice leads to a lasting peace. Everyday we hear about a car bombing in Lebanon, or children not eating in Gaza, and while it is reasonable enough to believe that some of the violence we encounter is random and unavoidable, too much of it is a product of an unjust world.

What are people who are hungry or violated daily supposed to do? Unable after a while to maintain their composure and seek paths to conversation and reconciliation, they lash out defensively and viciously hoping their rage will force their enemies to retreat. Unfortunately, while their response might be effective for a while, violence inevitably leads to more violence and the endless cycle of savagery continues. 

Today, weep with Christ at the violence we confront in the world, and let our tears be our prayer.

Who do you most admire for confronting violence with the peace of Christ?

The Lost Sheep of Israel

  "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Mt 15:24

The Jesus of Matthew's gospel is clear about his intentions. A Jew who has been sent to the Jews, Jesus wants his disciples to be careful to live the Torah and its Rabbinic interpretations narrowly. They should avoid Samaria altogether in order that every Jew who hears them can trust that they are observant Jews who want only to introduce their hearers to Jesus, the Messiah who God has been promised to his people.

Matthew's perspective makes perfect sense in context. It was important that Jesus' disciples remember their audience while not changing Jesus' message. Luke's gospel, because it was addressed primarily to Gentiles, was not concerned with connecting Jesus' teaching to the Torah. Quoting Jesus warning his first followers to avoid Samaria would make no sense to Gentiles who knew nothing about Palestinian geography or the quarrels among Jews.

How important it is to learn to announce the Good News to the people of the 21st century in a form they can understand. For those who have never lived without a computer or a cell phone, images and metaphors that were helpful to the people of the 20th century make little sense. In order to follow the powerful example of the early church, we need to be more sophisticated about social media, the music they enjoy and how they interact with the world.

Today, live the Gospel in a way that speaks to the those born in the 21st century.

Who or what helps you make sense of your faith?

The Assumption of Mary

  "A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth." Rev 12: 1-2

In recent years it is clear to me that the worst thing we can do to Sts Francis and Clare is to rob them of their humanity. The same is true of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Anxious to tame a strong, courageous woman, we make her in our image rather than God's, and when we do this, we strip her of her greatness and power. Listening to the Magnificat can help us avoid this travesty.

When Mary cries: "The Lord has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty," she reminds us to be humble and remember that there is only one God. Our task is not to control the world but to serve those most in need, and Mary demonstrates this early in John's gospel when she demands that Jesus help a young newly married couple who are running out of wine. Not only does Jesus respond, he makes enough wine to quench the thirst of an entire village.

Today, ask God to help you live the Gospel despite the cost.

What about Mary most moves you to live the Gospel without fear?

St Maximillian Kolbe

"I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were a girl, and I will set up an everlasting covenant with you" Ez 16

St Maximilian Kolbe, who offered his life for another prisoner at the Nazi death camp in Auschwitz, was drawn to a military life as a boy, but soon after entering the seminary he realized that the fight God wanted him to enter was a spiritual one. Although he imagined his life as a "long war", he focused not on the failures of those to whom he was preaching, but on their strengths, and it was this strategy that fostered his work of evangelizing Western Europe and Japan.

Kolbe new the God who set up an everlasting covenant with this people and acted on that knowledge. Believing that God could not stop loving him because of God's covenantal promise, he went everywhere announcing this good news. His final act of giving his life for another at Auschwitz is proof of this.

Today, remember God's unconditional love and put aside all fear.

Do you believe God loves you unconditionally?