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Sts. Joseph & Paul Catholic Church |
Homily Archives | |
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16 Sunday in Ordinary
Time –B
no.05 “My peace I leave, My peace I give.”The war between the United States and Iraq, the seven missals that North Korea fired on the Fourth of July, and the development of a nuclear weapons program by Iran have lost their international attention over the past few days as the conflict between Israel and Lebanon escalates to the possibility of war. In short, this conflict in the Middle East is stirred by the fact that the political parties in this small strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea have never reconciled themselves to the existence of Israel. The tension was aggravated in 1967 by the 6-day War in where Israel held onto to Gaza and the West Bank. Meanwhile, the political leadership in the Islamic World has shifted to religious radicals – terrorists - including the founders of Hamas and Hizballah.
The objective
that I come to you with is not to preach about war or to raise
political adversity among us. What I come with is the message of
Gospel living. I would ask all of us to see if we can look beyond the
political lines that can easily be drawn in our democracy…and look to
the faith that we have and the Divine Power of Jesus Christ who can
bring about peace in the most desperate of circumstances.
St. Paul reminds us in the Letter to the Ephesians that Jesus has already brought about a power and an identity of peace as he says, “he is our peace.” Gospel living calls us to believe that the peace of Jesus can tear down the walls of warfare that have built up between the strongest of lands and lead all to the oneness that God planned. This plan of God’s peace was fulfilled as Jesus died on the cross and became the great peacemaker. The peace that Jesus gave is still possible and is highlighted in the following story. It is a story that arises out of a very unlikely place: the beauty of trout streams, tropical birds, and banana farms, where the Nasa Indians of Southern Columbia offer a daily witness to peace. They have a self-sustaining community of about 100,000 people. But this community is in constant harm as they are caught between the forces of the vicious Columbian army of their own government and the violent anti-government of the Marxist rebels. To protect their people and their land, they have put together a group of 7,000 men and women that they call the Guard. This guard marches up and down their borders, and when they or the land is at risk, they walk right up to the aggressor and draw what they consider their most powerful weapon: conversation. And they are consistently successful as they talk to those who wish them harm. The success of the Nasa people has been praised by the United Nations as they have worked to keep their many years of peace. We may have the feeling that there is nothing we can do about the political tensions in our world, though Ephesians tells us that,” Jesus came to preach peace to those who were far off and to those who are near.” Peace is possible for anyone who is willing to enter into conversation, especially when we invite God into that conversation with us. One of the greatest gifts that came from the cross was peace. Jesus said, “My peace I leave, my peace I give. Not as the world gives it, but as I give it.” May the gift of peace enter into our own conversations and into our world as we talk to one another throughout this week. In the Gospel, Jesus invites the disciples to come away to a quiet place and pray. On this day of the Lord, we come to this holy and quiet place to pray. As we pray let us ask that peace come to our world and to our hearts….
sdrose@bellsouth.net |