The Word Of Peace
Homiletic Reflections On Peacemaking

Deacon Robert M. Pallotti

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

In 1963 the United States was about to enter one of its greatest social challenges in its history. In that year Dr. Martin Luther King, jr. went   to Birmingham Alabama with the SCLC to organize for a non-violent campaign to de-segregate the city. This non-violent campaign was something to the American landscape. Rather than seeking to vanquish the oppressors, the non-violent method employed by Dr. King and others was meant to convert them Instead of advocating and using the techniques of violence he advocated peaceful resistance. He wanted to break the cycle of violence and death with the weapon of love, even for the enemy.

The campaign proved to be a success but at a cost. Many people were imprisoned, many were hurt by water blasts from fire hoses turned on the demonstrators, or bitten by dogs and brutalized by Police. Yet the people stuck to non-violence! Many messengers were sent to this nation during those times to elevate the character of the nation and to help save its soul. Some of them were killed. Soon after the campaign was over members of the KKK threw a bomb into a black church in Birmingham killing four black girls.

God's messengers, be they adults, or children, whether they are famous or ordinary risked this fate for the reality of God's in-breaking Kingdom. They came to a people who rejected it and killed some of its messengers.

The Parable in Matthew draws our attention to tow prominent concerns at the time of Jesus. Firstly, there was understanding in Palestine at the time that the prophets that had been sent to Israel had been persecuted and killed because many did not want to listen to their message. A prophet could expect rejection, yet they did not back down, out love for God and the people they had to deliver the message to!   Jesus' ministry resembled the prophetic style and he clearly points to this fact, aligning himself with the prophets' fate. He doesn't do this because he desires it, but because he can see that his message, ministry and person is being rejected. The path to life and renewal is being rejected by the leaders of the people for whom it was intended!

This parable is extremely challenging, for it raises the same concerns for the Church as it raised for some of Israel's' leaders. The Church's call to respect and promote life is typical of the Kingdom of God. This is because the Kingdom is about love, justice and peace, all that honors and promotes life, especially human life. For St. Paul to know and to practice this in one's life is to taste the peace of God.

His Holiness, Pope John Paul II states more clearly the dimensions of God's Kingdom in his encyclical, The Gospel of Life. In this encyclical he denounces the "culture of death" that has constructed the doomsday machine, tolerates the existence of homelessness, cries for vengeance in the death penalty , punishes the poor for being poor and allows for the destruction of countless lives in abortion. In this encyclical he calls upon all Catholics and human beings to promote life, from womb to tomb ! He calls for an end to abortion, and an end to the numerous social conditions that contribute to a woman's decision to have an abortion. He calls for an end to the death penalty, arms trade. He calls for a preferential for the poor, worker's rights an anything that honors the sacred dignity of the human person. He calls all to compassion. To the people of our nation he stated: " Is present day America becoming less sensitive, less caring toward the poor, the stranger, the needy ? It must not !... Both as Americans and as followers of Christ, American Catholics must be committed to the defense of life in all its stages and in every condition." These same concerns are expressed by the U.S. Catholic Bishops in their recent publication entitled, " Political Responsibility ". With all of this we know that the Church itself has not always practiced what it preached. We know that good Catholics help to gas millions of people in Auschwitz, We know the Church tolerated human slavery for centuries. We know that it still struggles with racism and sexism. We know that the values "culture of death" or neo-paganism and oozed under the doors of the Church. But we also know that the Church has stood up for human rights, has and does work for the poor and suffering, and has at times confessed its guilt before the world.

We witness the response to God's Kingdom in so many here today!  Our presence here today tells us we want to accept God's messengers--especially his Son ! We want a society that values life over things and wealth, child over power, love over hate!

On this respect for life Sunday we know we come here to re-dedicate ourselves to a life, a community, and a world to God's transforming ' Gospel of Life ! We are confident that this can be achieved because we know that the Master of the vineyard is with us ! Perhaps Dr. King said it best when he confronted the "Culture of death" in his Letter from A Birmingham Jail: " I hope the Church as a whole will meet the challenge of this decisive hour. But even if the Church does not come to the aid of justice, I have no despair about the future. I have no fear about the outcome... Abused and scorned though we may be. We will win... because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands."

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