The Word Of Peace
Homiletic Reflections On Peacemaking

Deacon Robert M. Pallotti, D. Min.

6th Sunday of Easter, Cycle C

May 2001

Let us have the courage to believe in the bright future and in a God who wills it for us—not a perfect world, but a better one. The perfect world, we Christians believe, is beyond the horizon, in an endless eternity where God will be all in all. But a better world is here for human hands and minds to make.

Two views on the building of peace come from the famous historian A.J.P. Taylor and the U.S. Catholic Bishops letter, The Challenge of peace #337. We are told that Jesus has come to us to bring us a peace that the world cannot give. The world understands peace as merely the absence of armed conflict and violence. This is misleading for we may not be involved in clash of arms but we know that the modern world suffers from being in a state of very serious armed truce. Since 1945 our world has lived in a constant state of preparedness for war. The atom bomb made this possible, and as it spread made in necessary for nations. This certainly is not the peace that Jesus has is mind.

The Lord promises that we will be given the guidance of the Holy Spirit, our Advocate. What is the role of the Advocate? The Advocate defends the followers of Jesus against the accusations of the world that refute the truth of Jesus Christ that the Church is called to witness to in the world. This witness is one of pointing to the promised "new Jerusalem" that has begun to make its appearance known in a special way in the Church and the future fulfillment to come. This new Jerusalem will be a time when God will dwell in the most intimate way throughout creation. It is universal in its scope. That is it is meant to include everyone! The Church then is meant to bring this message to what world not simply in words but in a living and concrete fashion in helping to carve out of history a better world.

This is why the Church speaks to all those issues that directly impacts on the well being others. Whatever harms another or a whole class of people the Church is called to challenge and call and work for change. This includes those things and evils that the Church has participated in over the years. This will require that the followers of Jesus surrender any tendency toward defensivesness. It means believing that in our surrender to the Love of God that we find in Jesus the Son we are not afraid to confront our own sinfulness as individuals and community. We cannot and ought not to forget that human slavery existed in the United States and save for the Quakers and some abolitionist groups the churches were largely silent. We cannot and ought not to forget that segregation existed in this nation for many years without strong church resistance. If the churches had only neglected to act there would be cause for despair of the church and the "new Jerusalem" would be an incredible fable. But, many instances in history point to the Church’s resistance and active engagement for change and struggling against injustice. Who can forget the courageous example of the Solidarity movement in Poland, the struggle for justice in Central America, the end of Apartheid led by many church leaders and the call for nuclear disarmament by the U.S. Catholic Bishops?

Deacon Robert M. Pallotti, D. Min.
Created October 6, 2001