The Word Of Peace
Homiletic Reflections On Peacemaking

Deacon Robert M. Pallotti, D. Min.

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

"After services my father would take us down along the river bank. He told us how old the rocks were, millions of years old. He would tell us how all things came to be over time. When we would get to the river's edge we would kneel down and watch the water wash over the rocks. My father told us, to come hear often, to kneel and listen and behind the oldest rocks, behind the river--if we listened very carefully, we could hear the Words of God."

These are the words from the book, A River Runs Through It. The river is a symbol of God's own Word moving through our lives. And if we are still, if we can stop running, stop filling our lives with so many non-essential activities, we are told, we can hear God's Word.

The story of Martha and Mary raises this whole sense that all people need to stop and to listen to God's Word. In Luke's gospel we see Martha carrying out the expected rites of hospitality--something we see many years before Abraham. Mary, on the other hand, is sitting at Jesus' feet. Scandalous ! Mary assumes the role of a disciple. In Jesus' day as disciple sat at the feet of the teacher or rabbi, listening attentively--no other concerns were allowed to stand in the way of listening and learning from the Master. This was something of a scandal in Jesus' day. Women, and single women to boot, were not allowed such a role and were not to be seen talking to men in public like this, especially if they were teachers or prophets!

Martha's running to and fro to provide Jesus with hospitality is , in itself, a good thing. But Jesus rejects her assertion that Mary should help. His rejection is not about Martha's service but about her anxiety and her unwillingness to sit next to Mary and listen!

This is a valuable lesson for anyone, or any movement that seeks to do service. No matter the rightness of he cause those who wish to serve the Lord cannot do so for very long without attending to prayer and God's Word. Even the noblest of missions and movements will either wither or become dictatorial. What do I mean by this ? Well, what can so easily happen is that our doing can become a way of avoiding being formed and informed by the Lord. By running to and fro we can believe that we are really doing God's will, yet we may actually be avoiding God. That is the great trap for those in professional ministry. In wanting to do things, many things quickly, in an effort to be effective, we may miss the Lord, or forget the Lord in the process. And in the end, be less effective than we might have been.

This is especially so for anyone that would work for justice and peace in the world as an individual and in group. If time is not taken to pray, play, discuss and plan, the initial enthusiasm can lead to the "Roman Candle Effect." That is, a person or group can shoot up into the night, bright and colorful, arching skyward, only to grow dark and crash to the ground burned out. And those who fail to attend to the Lord's Word can quickly take on an air of self-righteousness, becoming intolerant, oppressive and dictatorial toward others. Is this not the seed of every revolution that has been betrayed ? The work for justice and peace, or global hospitality, is not primarily about causes for good--its about listening and responding to the Lord.

Listening to the Lord, of course, means eventually following the Lord. The Letter to the Colossians raises this issue when wee hear that we make up in our bodies the suffering which is lacking in Christ! Wow!, what a statement!   I think we might understand it to mean that the Church of Christ hears the suffering that comes from listening and responding to the Word. Suffering in itself is not to be sought out--but accepted as a consequence of faithfulness. This is why Colossians speaks of joy. Not because of suffering, but rather, the joy one experiences for the inner experience of profound communion with the Lord in following all the way. For myself that is what I experienced when I've taken the time to Listen !

For us in our daily lives listening for the Lord means setting some time aside each day for prayer, joining us each Sunday-- or, kneeling at the "river's edge", inclining our ears and listening for the Words of God, the Words that flow through our lives.

Deacon Robert M. Pallotti, D. Min.
Uploaded December 10, 1998