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, turning them 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.
Jerusalem means
"peace", yet it has struggled for peace since its very foundation. It
is meant to be a city where people come together in unity. Instead, it is a
place of great tension and fighting. Where is our peace? People of all times
have yearned for peace. Isaiah prophesied that peace would come from Israel
provided the people learned to "walk in the light of the Lord" (Is
2:5b). He said that if Israel would turn to the Lord, the nations would stream
to the house of the God of Jacob in order to seek instruction - learning how to
walk in the paths of the Lord. For the Lord's glory will be shelter and
protection (cf. Is 4:6a).
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.
While looking to the future,
however, we should not expect the final coming of Christ, which is evident, to
effect a sudden reversal in people's hearts and the state of the world. We must
work before the final coming of Christ by making the Church, that is, we as
members of His body, as much like the final Kingdom of justice and peace as
possible. Transforming the world through prayer and the workings of the Holy Spirit
is a gradual process. The first step is to draw people to the Person of Jesus
Christ. Living as He has taught us - with love for all - moving people to say,
"Come let us climb the Lord's mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob,
that He may instruct us in His ways and we may walk in His paths" (Is
2:3).
In the Responsorial Psalm we
acclaim, "Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord" (Ps 122:1).
During this Advent season, we need to pray for peace asking God to allow 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, turning them 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! A first glance at this Gospel may strike us as a strange reading for the
first week of Advent. Actually, 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; a time of preparation in anticipation of celebrating
Christmas - the birth of the Light of the World. As we pray for peace, may we
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 Jesus; that of ourselves we can do nothing,
and that all human resources are insufficient to make us spiritually sound.
Jesus offers us peace and healing in the sacraments and 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" (Mt 8:8).
If we make those words an
expression of real faith and humility, then our celebration of 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!