PEACE AND PROSPERITY
If the nations are ever to beat their swords into
plowshares, we must beat down our own personal feelings of hatred and contempt
into love and concern.
"Jerusalem" means "peace," yet
it has struggled for peace since its foundation. It is meant to be a city where
people come together in unity, and yet people are still fighting. Where is our
Peace? People of all times have yearned for peace. Isaiah, in the Old
Testament, prophesied that peace would come from Israel provided the people learned
to walk in the light of the Lord (cf Is 2:5). He said that if Israel would
turn to the Lord, the nations would stream to the house of the God of Jacob to
seek instruction as to how to walk in the paths of the Lord. For over all, the
Lord's glory will be shelter and protection.
Isaiah did not
understand that his words would be fulfilled only in the Church, the New
Israel. With the coming of Christ the angels heralded the message of
"peace on earth." But has the Church failed as did Israel? Where
is the peace that Jesus came to bring?
In one sense the
Kingdom of peace and justice is still in the future. It will be fully realized
only in the final coming of Christ Jesus. We, like the Israelites, are a people
who must look to the future. On the other hand, we should not expect the final
coming of Christ to effect a sudden reversal in the state of the world. We must
work for the final coming of Christ by making the Church, that is, ourselves,
as much like the final Kingdom of justice and peace as possible.
Transforming the world
through Jesus is a gradual process. To draw people to Christ Jesus through His
Church is the first step. Living as Jesus has taught us, with love for all, can
move people to say, "Come let us climb the Lord's mountain, to the house
of God, the He may instruct us in His ways and we may walk in His paths"
(Is 2:3ab).In the Responsorial Psalm we acclaim, "Let us go rejoicing to
the house of the Lord" (cf Ps 122:1). This Advent, we need to pray for
peace and may our love prosper.May peace be within us and prosperity in our
buildings. If the nations are ever to beat their swords into plowshares, we
must beat down our own personal feelings of hatred and contempt into love and
concern. If the nations are ever to turn their spears into pruning hooks, we
must turn our self-seeking into generosity and service.
Today, in the Gospel
of Matthew, we read about a man of faith and humility. He had faith to recognize
that Jesus possessed the power to cure his paralyzed servant and that he needed
Jesus! You know, at a first glance, this Gospel may strike us as a strange
reading for the first week of Advent. Actually, however, the faith and humility
of this military man serves as a reminder to us of what our attitude should be
during this season of Peace, Hope and Love as we prepare to celebrate
Christmas, the birth of the Light of the World!
As we pray for peace,
may we first have faith that Jesus, and Jesus alone, has the power to help us.
Secondly, we have to be humble enough to admit that we need Him, that of
ourselves we can do nothingand that all human resources are insufficient to
make us spiritually sound. Jesus offers us peace and healing in the Sacraments,
most especially in the Eucharist. To help us grow in faith and humility the
Church has adapted the words of the centurion and put them on our lips before
we receive the Eucharist: "Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under
my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed."
If we make those words
an expression of real faith and humility, then our celebration of this
Christmas will take on more meaning. Yes! We will always look to the future for
a Kingdom of peace but we will realize that the future comes to be only because
of the present. May this peace come from within us daily.