The Word Of Peace
Homiletic Reflections On Peacemaking

Deacon Robert M. Pallotti

The Body and Blood of Christ - 1999

Bismarck 1867

It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work for it.

E. Roosevelt 1951

Why begin this Sunday homily of the Body and Blood of Christ with two reflections on peace? What's that got to do with the Bread of life? Well, everything really. We may be witnessing the final days of the war in Kosovo. Yet we know that peace, and the possibility of real living by the Kosovo refugees may be years or decades away. We have witnessed, and are witnessing, around the world, a continual series of ethnic, religious, racial and nationalist wars--some 25 at present. Things are also heating up in Kashmir between India and Pakistan again. Divisiveness, conflict and hate seem to be so persistent. And yet, we are told by the Lord that we may have life, eternal life, here and now! We may be one!

This is the great celebration of this day, and everyday really. The Lord has chosen to be with us under the appearance of bread and wine as his real body and blood which nourishes us for our earthly journey. It is the Lord's presence that desires to make the Lord's home in us as individuals and Church! Therefore, believers become the human face of this presence in the world, which, as St. Paul reminds us, is called to build unity in the Church and among the human race and creation ! It is based on an important understanding of the need to "remember" what the Father has done in the Son in which we share in the Holy Spirit. Eucharist, giving thanks, is a total way of being involving the whole person. We give thanks in a life committed to building unity.

That unity will come only when all members of the Lord's Body, the Church, help to resolve those things that stand in the way of human solidarity and responsible stewardship of all people and creation. It happens when Christian love shows its fullness when the poor are fed, and when we ask and address why they are poor. It happens when we offer charity and when we organize to act for justice. Without both of these steps we short circuit the unity we seek. Charity without justice assures others will remain dependent on our good graces. Justice without charity often becomes too abstract or just plain brutal. Both are essentials steps. The black preacher, Otis Moss, Jr. put it this way:

There can be no unity or peace without justice, and justice without love is brutality. Love without justice is weak sentimentality.

"I am the Bread of Life." The Lord tells us that to welcome the Lord into our whole being is to welcome the love of the Son and the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit. And it is this love which brings eternal life. God's love is eternal, and if we share in that love we have already tasted the meal of eternity. Isn't that what we celebrate and experience in the Eucharist--a foretaste of the great messianic banquet!

To accept the bread of life is to accept God's Spirit dwelling in us which calls us to build unity and peace in this world--that is an essential part of having real life! Yet, we know that this is difficult work. The wandering of the Israelites in the desert remind us that results take time, yet God is with us, nourishing us--giving us what we need to keep going if we are open to what God gives. There will be times in life when trying to build peace and unity is life wandering in an arid and parched desert, but in faith, all of the sudden, Bam! Life!!

Many will ask how we will build this unity? Well, there are plenty of ideas and things we can do and are doing as individuals, groups and nations to help build peace. These things go beyond mere sentiment and heart-rending stories, they require sacrifice of our time, treasure and talent. They are about Christian stewardship, taking responsibility for the mission of the church as a sign and action that "gives thanks"--eucharist.

The work for unity may mean blood poured out and bodies broken for others, symbolically and literally. But the results are life, real living in the love of God--no dress rehearsals. The U.S. Catholic Bishops, in their letter, The Challenge of Peace stated:

We are called to be a church at the service of peace and unity, precisely because peace is one manifestation of God's Word and work in our midst."

Jesus is the Bread of life, offered to us, and when accepted, we become that to others and the world so that all may have life!

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