The Word Of Peace
Homiletic Reflections On Peacemaking

Deacon Robert M. Pallotti

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

In the movie, " The Mission ", Robert DiNero plays a Spanish slave trader named Capt. Rodrigo, operating in the colonial possession of Peru. He has a violent temper and is prone to violence, sometimes killing. The woman he is in love with loves another man--who he discovers is his brother !. Immediately he goes to confront his brother; a struggle ensues. Capt. Rodrigo pulls out a knife and stabs his brother to death. As he watches him die, he is horrified by what he has done. For weeks he does not eat, sleep or bathe. He only stares, mumbles to himself and refuses all and any company that can ease his suffering in guilt and remorse. He comes to the point where he welcomes death. But then he is visited by a Jesuit priest who knows him. He meets a Capt. Rodrigo who dwells in a self-made hell. His offense so grevious that he feels beyond redemption, beyond forgiveness! Who will forgive him ? Would it matter ? Can he forgive himself ? The forgiveness I extend to others will be extended to me. The Parable Jesus told about God's mercy has an interesting twist. God's essence is compassion, mercy for the lost and the sinner. It is freely given to all who petition for it. Yet, the expectation is that we will pass it on to others, as well as accept it into ourselves ! To not do so is tantamount to rejecting the very favor God wants to extend to us. That is tragic for all the parties concerned. For the other person it means a rejection of giving a broken relationship a future where none was expected. For the individual it means shutting oneself off from the effects of God's transforming grace. It leaves one to perpetuate the spiraling cycle of vengeance and counter-vengeance. Such lays the foundation for greater brokenness in oneself and in one's relationships.

For nations this has been a prominent issue. Nations defeated in war have traditionally paid a high price. Often reparations are humiliating and debilitating, sowing the seeds of resentment and future conflict. This was especially true after WWI. The Versailles treaty after WWI laid the groundwork for a rabid German nationalism that wanted to exact revenge, hence WWII.

However, there are those who saw a need to turn from the traditional course. We see this with the establishment of the United Nations whose purpose is to promote peace, reconciliation and development of peoples. A often little appreciated effort to promote forgiveness on an international level was headed up by an American Lutheran Pastor, Frank Buchmann. The trauma of the Holocaust , 55 million killed and the atomic age summoned forth a rekindled interest in the Moral Rearmament Movement. Its primary focus was national forgiveness and reconciliation in Europe between France and Germany. German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer was so thankful to Pastor Buchmann that he wrote to him:

" It is my conviction...that people and nations cannot outwardly enjoy stable relationships until they have inwardly been preparing for them... Very soon after the war MRA reached out a hand to the German people and helped them make contact again with other nations..." The call to forgiveness that we hear in the parable and from Sirach is a call to reflect, and pass on the mercy of God we experience in Jesus Christ. This is a God who recognizes that human life is very complex. That our motives for doing what we do are not always understood by ourselves. God knows how destructive and oppressive situations can warp and distort human health and personality. And God knows that most people are trying to be good and decent. The Father of Jesus knows our frustrated dreams and loves can try even the best of human beings. That is why Jesus is so insistent about forgiveness, it is because that's what the Father wants ! God is there to forgive--to give our relationships and lives a future!

Recently, Rabbi Harold Kushner reflected on this very concern. He said, " I believe in a God who knows how complicated human life is, how difficult it is to be a good person at all times, and who does not expect a perfect life, but an honest effort at a good one... If God could not love flawed, imperfect people, God would be very lonely, because imperfect people are the only ones around. And if we can't accept and love people with all their imperfections, we condemn ourselves to loneliness as well."

Jesus points this out--the servant unable to forgive the other lost it all! His relationship to God, the other and himself was fractured ever more deeply. For ourselves, love , romance, humor and consideration are important for our relationships. But the most important thing is forgiveness, it is this that mends the seemingly unmendable and gives our relationships a future they might not have had.

Capt. Rodrigo went t with the priest to the mission. He dragged a huge bag filled with his armor, swords, guns--all the things that burdened him . These thing were symbols for his guilt. He hauled them because he felt he had to until he could accept forgiveness. Through jungles, up large mountains he finally reaches the point where he can carry the burden no longer, breaks down in grief-ridden tears and begins to reconcile with his dead brother, God and himself. He accepts the chance top begin again! This is a reflection of the God we experience in Jesus Christ.

Deacon Robert M. Pallotti, D. Min.
Uploaded January 14, 2000