The Word Of Peace
Homiletic Reflections On Peacemaking

Deacon Robert M. Pallotti, D. Min.

8th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Written on our Hearts For A New Time

Some people see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not!

Robert F. Kennedy

Dr. Martin Luther King, jr., "I Have a Dream"

These are the words of two men that in 1968, within two months of each other, would be assassinated. These are the words of Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King. The obvious thread that runs through booth quotes is the notion of the dream. Both men were men of vision and they were men of action. They knew full well that the vision was important but not enough. There had to be a way to put that vision into practice, or at least to move actively toward realizing some elements of that vision. And this vision was about the renewal and redemption of this nation.

The 1960’s were among the most harrowing, dangerous and energizing periods in world and U.S. history. It was a time of triumph and tragedy, as William Manchester once suggested. It was a time for something new. Yes, it was a new time with new ideas—some good, others trivial. It was a time that summoned the nation’s people to look inside themselves and to see if the law was written in their hearts. Did we really believe that all were created equal and entitled to equal rights, or was it mere sentimental drool? Were some of us more equal than others? And how far would change go? What did it all mean?

Jesus is criticized by some of his contemporaries for not fasting like John’s disciples. In some respects this is a fair critique. Religious people were supposed to fast weren’t they? Jesus does not say they ought not to fast but he directs their critique of him in another direction. His answer is not about whether or not fasting is good or bad for people. He directs them to the saving action of the Father in his ministry that makes it impossible for anyone to fast in his presence. This is a time of joy and feasting because the Father is coming to everyone with an unconditional love that calls all to the feast table of the wedding. Yes, Jesus compares his ministry to a wedding feast that celebrates life and abundance, It is a new time were the old ways have to give way to the new because they can no longer define reality. The presence of Jesus among them is the new time. And if we adopt this vision of Jesus we will be changed.

St. Paul speaks of this change. It is a time when the law of God, God’s law of love will be written on our hearts. Such a vision and understanding of the reality of Jesus Christ is one that was looked for by the great prophets of Israel. Jeremiah saw this as the new covenant when we would no longer have to teach about God’s law and love because it would be the very center of our being! Ezkeil too, looked forward to the Law being at our center, He even went so far as eating the scroll of the Law of Moses to illustrate this.

Jesus Christ is the embodiment of God’s unconditional love for human beings. It is a love that pursues us relentlessly like a young suitor after the woman of his dreams. Hosea tells us that our God is faithful to us and desires the best for us even when we stray. It is this love in Christ that we are called to take into our daily being, to allow Christ to be alive in our depths. We then become what Paul calls Christ’s letters to others written on our hearts. Nad this can only happen when we surrender to that love and reflect out to others. When we choose to love others then we begin to be changed because we open the doorway to Christ to be at our center and to bring Christ to others.

That is the great vision of Jesus for his followers. It is one that brings the unlimited love of God to the world and its problems. In the 1960’s it was civil rights, the Vietnam War, and other issues that propelled a generation to examine its hearts. Today, according to Robert Kaplan in his new book, The Coming Anarchy, it is a time of increasing unrest and ethnic and civil wars that will challenge the followers of Christ to be new wineskins for a world that needs a vision that says love is real all else is pain and illusion.

Yes, some believe we are headed for tough times. Some believe it will be a time for great human achievement. Whatever will be will lie largely with how people see the world, themselves and one another. If a vision of hope and love hold sway, then a promising future is possible. As Christ’s followers we believe this to be the case. We believe that love is stronger than our fears, anxieties and pain. We believe that justice and peace are not mere Christian slogans but real possibilities that must be risked, struggled and believed in no matter the cost.

The world is looking for a vision that will lead it through these turbulent, yet promising times. Jesus summons us today to let him into the center of our being, and we will let God’s law of love into our hearts. Then we can bring the good news of the wedding feast to a sometimes-despairing world.

We can bring that vision of a new time, a time for new possibilities, a time for love’s imagination to take hold so that we too can believe, have the vision that God is doing a new thing in our time and so becomes the Lord’s transforming agents in our world. Then the words of Robert Kennedy and Dr. King will be our words for our times. We will give flesh to the Gospel vision in this new century so that we too can say:

Some people see things as they are and say why. I dream of things that never were and say why not?

Deacon Robert M. Pallotti, D. Min.
Uploaded February 27, 2000