767 ELM STREET * ROCKY HILL * CONNECTICUT 06067
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767 ELM STREET * ROCKY HILL * CONNECTICUT 06067 |
           
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The Reading Group at St. James has just finished the book, The Clowns of God, by Morris West. In this book the world is confronted with the real possibility of global war with nuclear weapons, an act of madness to be sure. This book reminded me of a quote I can across some years ago. In the year 1990, then the General Secretary of the Communist Party, Mikail Gorbachev wrote: The ultimate absurdity of relying on nuclear weapons was dramatically revealed to me, and I am sure to President Bush as well, when we met in Washington in the summer of 1990. During that visit, we shared a helicopter ride together at Camp David. Near President Bush sat a military aide with the codes required to destroy the Soviet Union. Near me sat my military aide with the codes required to destroy the United States. Yet President Bush and I sat together on that small helicopter talking about peace. Neither of us ever planned to use the awesome power we each possessed. Yet we possessed it. And we both knew how ordinary and fallible we bother were. And, how we would both choose, would be decisive for the planet! Our gospel reminds us that that among all of God’s creatures, we alone, as human beings have the power to choose among several possibilities in this life. We are reminded that our choices do and will have consequences for the self and others, and perhaps for the whole world! There are moments in our lives when our choice will yield a curse or a blessing; death or life. This is the awesome power of human freedom. It is a power that can bring down the curtain of life on this planet, or take life to new and exalted state of being! Our choices, in the context of God’s present and future Kingdom, are about witnessing to the Lord in working with the Lord and others to help craft a world of life and not death. Preoccupation with the “end of the world” is a great concern for many. Even the History Channel spends an inordinate amount of time speaking of “mega disasters”. In Luke it is clear that Jesus does not give us an exact time as to when the “last days” are coming, but he reminds us that being his disciple will entail risk and cost. This risk and cost comes as a consequence of conforming our lives to the Way of Christ. This cost comes as a result of living the meaning of the future fullness of the Reign of God that comes in the end times, at least in part, in the here and now! And for some such a life is dangerous because it refuses to participate in the idolatrous “cult of consumption”, or in abstaining from one’s responsibility to meet the present day crises and challenges with the gospel. Rather, it is a life committed to holding up the truth that human beings, all human beings are created in God’s image, and that every person and social structure must acknowledge that truth. We live in a sometimes dangerous world, but a person of faith can live with danger because of the deep inner peace that comes from faith in the Lord. It is a faith that acknowledges the truth of the words spoken by the English mystic, Juliana of Norwich: All shall be well, all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well. Such a faith allows us the freedom to live with moral courage, to accept the possible risk and cost of being faithful to the Lord. This is so because God tells us that nothing, not even death can harm us. Nothing can separate us from God! We not only live after mortal death, we are free to live before death! We can take the call of the Lord to work with others and the Holy Spirit to help make things new! That is what the Catholic Campaign for Human Development is all about. The CCHD believes that we are not here to sit around waiting for the Lord to come with the fullness of the Kingdom. We are not here to let “Big Daddy” take care of it all. Rather, we are here to work with the Lord and others to make a difference for the good. We are here to make a difference for justice. We are here to make a difference for life. We are here to work with God and others to help set the world free from the fear and possibility of the unleashing of planetary destruction. We are here to make of this world a place of peace, and to help build a civilization of love. In Paul’s day people wanted to sit around waiting for the end times to appear. But he chides them to understand that the Lord’s Day will come in its own good time, in the meantime, the followers of Jesus work to eat and work with others so that they too can not only eat, but learn to produce their own food. Perhaps we can understand it this way. We are not here to sit and wait, rather, we are here to live as though the Kingdom was coming in its fullness tomorrow. And what would that kind of life be like? It would be a life committed to working to make this world more just, more compassionate, more loving, and as a consequence creating a culture of life and not death; a culture of hope and not despair. And we both knew how ordinary and fallible we both were. And, how we would both choose, would be decisive for the planet! Deacon Robert M. Pallotti, D.Min. Return to Saint James Home Page |