Sirach 4:11-19
Psalm 119:165, 168, 171-172, 174-175
Mark 9:38-40
We have just repeated in the psalm, “O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.” The psalmist is speaking of the peace which is the foundation of peace in our society: peace within ourselves. This internal peace is founded on the law of God. Until we love God above all things and our neighbors as ourselves, we cannot be at peace, and until we are at peace, our society cannot be at peace. Our popular society blames fundamentalism for violence, which is to say that they blame strongly held beliefs for violence. If everyone would calm down, we are led to believe, and be willing to accept that they will not always get their way, we would have peace.
This is not true. Most of the violence in this world comes not from fundamentalism but from selfishness. Behind theft, rape, nearly every murder, and all the other crimes which disturb our peace, lie a selfish motive. We concentrate on the violence that comes from those who claim to be fighting for an ideal, but that is such a minuscule part of the violence in the world. Some people speak as if the elimination of fundamentalism would lead to perfect peace, but they must be ignoring the vast majority of the crimes against peace to believe this. A popular claim by modern atheists is that the elimination of religion would mean a flowering of peace. This is false. Religion, even religions that are deficient in their understanding of the truth, are the greatest contributors to peace in this world. Most religions make a person try to be good, and no one is more peaceful than a good person. Some atheists may brag that they are good without God, but many people, without the morality of a religion, would commit whatever violence or theft that they thought they might get away with.
If we could only make every person in the world be good, then we could deal with the philosophical questions like whether and when it is ever good to use violence. There is a way to have this world peace, but we must begin with peace within ourselves, which comes only from following the law of God: love. Until we love God above all things and our neighbors as ourselves, we will not be at peace, and until we are at peace, it is sort of foolish to hope for world peace.
Daily Homilies
Showing posts with label War. Show all posts
Showing posts with label War. Show all posts
May 30, 2011 - Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter (Memorial Day)
Today's Readings
“The hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God.” Jesus is saying this referring to the persecution of the early Jewish Christians by those Jews who did not become Christian, but this is a problem we are facing again now. Clearly many of the terrorists think that when they are killing people, whether innocent civilians or American soldiers, that they are offering worship to God.
I heard on the radio about a week ago of a recent attack in Afghanistan. A suicide bomber attacked the cafeteria of a hospital. He killed 6 Afghan medical students and injured dozens more. I found this attack to be particularly frustrating in its complete pointlessness and stupidity. As a modern American, I try to understand their point of view, but I fail. This attack was not merely wrong or mistaken, it was evil: it was inspired by Satan.
I do understand that they are not killing us only because we are Christian, that there are complex issues at play, consequences of years of greed, but I have not forgotten how, before September 11th, when they still ruled Afghanistan, they killed Christians in a stadium for preaching the Gospel. I understand that there are Muslims, many Muslims, who have no sympathies for the Taliban cause at all. So, without labeling it, I speak only of the religion of the terrorists, who think that they are worshipping God by killing people.
We see a reflection of the spiritual battle between good and evil. Just as Jesus told us, the spiritual battle will have life and death consequences in the material world. I am not saying that this war or any war is the will of God. I am saying that there are some things worth fighting in this world. Those who fight evil with peaceful means deserve to be commended, but so too do we owe respect to those who fight with necessary force against evil, putting their own lives in danger so that evil is less able to cause suffering.
Today we remember all those who have died while fighting evil. The circumstances of each individual’s death do not matter today. We can blame various political leaders if they deserve it. The soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, and guardians were ready to fight and die for the battle against evil. For their own sake it matters only that they acted with honor, obeying their conscience at all times. For our part, we do not stand as anyone’s judge, but honor all those who have died fighting the enemies of our country.
“The hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God.” Jesus is saying this referring to the persecution of the early Jewish Christians by those Jews who did not become Christian, but this is a problem we are facing again now. Clearly many of the terrorists think that when they are killing people, whether innocent civilians or American soldiers, that they are offering worship to God.
I heard on the radio about a week ago of a recent attack in Afghanistan. A suicide bomber attacked the cafeteria of a hospital. He killed 6 Afghan medical students and injured dozens more. I found this attack to be particularly frustrating in its complete pointlessness and stupidity. As a modern American, I try to understand their point of view, but I fail. This attack was not merely wrong or mistaken, it was evil: it was inspired by Satan.
I do understand that they are not killing us only because we are Christian, that there are complex issues at play, consequences of years of greed, but I have not forgotten how, before September 11th, when they still ruled Afghanistan, they killed Christians in a stadium for preaching the Gospel. I understand that there are Muslims, many Muslims, who have no sympathies for the Taliban cause at all. So, without labeling it, I speak only of the religion of the terrorists, who think that they are worshipping God by killing people.
We see a reflection of the spiritual battle between good and evil. Just as Jesus told us, the spiritual battle will have life and death consequences in the material world. I am not saying that this war or any war is the will of God. I am saying that there are some things worth fighting in this world. Those who fight evil with peaceful means deserve to be commended, but so too do we owe respect to those who fight with necessary force against evil, putting their own lives in danger so that evil is less able to cause suffering.
Today we remember all those who have died while fighting evil. The circumstances of each individual’s death do not matter today. We can blame various political leaders if they deserve it. The soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, and guardians were ready to fight and die for the battle against evil. For their own sake it matters only that they acted with honor, obeying their conscience at all times. For our part, we do not stand as anyone’s judge, but honor all those who have died fighting the enemies of our country.
February 23, 2011 - Memorial of Saint Polycarp, bishop and martyr
We have just repeated in the psalm, “O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.” The psalmist is speaking of the peace which is the foundation of peace in our society: peace within ourselves. This internal peace is founded on the law of God. Until we love God above all things and our neighbors as ourselves, we cannot be at peace, and until we are at peace our society cannot be at peace. Our popular society blames fundamentalism for violence, which is to say that they blame strongly held beliefs for violence. If everyone would calm down, we are led to believe, and be willing to accept that they will not always get their way, we would have peace.
This is not true. Most of the violence in this world comes from selfishness. Behind theft, rape, nearly every murder, and all the other crimes which disturb our peace, lie a selfish motive. We concentrate on the violence that comes from those who claim to be fighting for an ideal, but that is such a minuscule part of the violence in the world. Some people speak as if the elimination of fundamentalism would lead to perfect peace, but they must be ignoring the vast majority of the crimes against peace to believe this. A popular claim by modern atheists is that the elimination of religion would mean a flowering of peace. This is false. Religion, even religions that are deficient in their understanding of the truth, are the greatest contributors to peace in this world. Most religions make a person try to be good, and no one is more peaceful than a good person.
If we could only make every person in the world be good, then we could deal with the philosophical questions like whether and when it is ever a good to use violence. There is a way to have this world peace, but we must begin with peace within ourselves, which comes only from following the law of God: love. Until we love God above all things and our neighbors as ourselves, we will not be at peace, and until we are at peace, it is sort of foolish to hope for world peace.
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