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God created us in His image, and we decided to return the favor.
George Bernard Shaw
Just when I get my church all sorted out, sheep from goats, saved from the damned, hopeless from hopeful, somebody makes a move, gets out of focus, cuts loose, and I see why Jesus never wrote systematic theology. So you and I can give thanks that the locus of Christian thinking appears to be shifting from North America and Northern Europe where people write rules and obey them, to places like Africa and Latin America where people still know how to dance.
Will Willimon, Duke University
One of the best things about being a Catholic is that we belong to a universal church. We have sisters and brothers in the faith around the world. Although we live in the U.S.A. and are disciples of Jesus Christ in a very affluent and consumerist society who have it pretty good, we also have brothers and sisters in the poorest countries of the world. What a blessing! I believe they keep us honest as people of the Gospel, as the servants we are meant to be in imitation of Jesus. If I received my religious education from American TV evangelists, I think I could no longer call myself a Christian. I find most of them a frightening bunch. Who do they answer to, besides themselves?
The Catholic Church, despite its failures, helps us to be honest to God and to each other... not only to other Americans, but also to all the disciples of Jesus around the world... even to our brothers and sisters in those countries who are at war with the U.S. How do we love and support Iraqi Catholics? What does Jesus call us to do as disciples? "This is my commandment... love one another." Do we only love other American Christians? How do we love our brothers and sisters around the world? Will we stand with them even when our nation calls them our enemies? What comes first: allegiance to Jesus Christ and His values, or allegiance to our country? Are we Christians who happen to be Americans or are we Americans who happen to be Christians?
Martin Niemoller was a Lutheran pastor in Germany during World War II. Because of his Christian beliefs, he was arrested and placed in a concentration camp. Everyday he saw innocent and good people put to death. He began to ask himself what he would do and say when his time came. Would he curse the Nazis, lash out with rage? He came to realize if Jesus had done this, we wouldn't have the Gospel. Niemoller says, "It took me a long time to learn that God is not the enemy of my enemies. He is not even the enemy of His (God) enemies. For Jesus cried out, 'Father, forgive them.'"
There is a great temptation in the USA to make Jesus into an American and have Him bless our way of life... even our wars! Is Jesus Christ always on our side, the American side? I am only asking you the question that should be asked by every Catholic. There are Christians in the U.S.A. who are convinced that Jesus is always on our side. Why shouldn't He be? Many American Christians have made Him one of us! Patriotism, love of one's country is a good thing. But what if our country is wrong instead of right (for example, Catholic Christians in Nazi Germany)? If our country and our leaders are wrong, what is the role of a Christian? Our first allegiance as American Catholic Christians is to the God of Jesus who tran
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scends all nations. As St. Paul reminds us, our citizenship is first and foremost in the Kingdom of God... not in this or that country.
The early Christians did not view themselves primarily as citizens of the Roman Empire, but rather as citizens of the Kingdom of God. They called themselves "sojourners." They were so convinced of the teachings of Jesus that they would pay any price, even martyrdom. Church historians tell us the early Christians were pacifists. It wasn't until Constantine replaced the Roman eagle with a cross that the church abandoned its pacifist stand.
It was in the fourth century that St. Augustine articulated the concept of a just war. A primary principle of the just war theory is that the war may be the only means for a nation to protect itself. There may have been strong suspicions that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, but are suspicions justifiable grounds for war? Our president, Mr. Bush, says that he was misinformed by the CIA. The CIA contends that it never told the president that there was any certainty that Iraq had the weapons we were lead to believe they had at the time we invaded them. Writing in the New York Times, former president Carter said that Iraq posed no military threat to the U.S. The Christian Media came down hard on Carter in defense of the Bush administration in a "time of national crisis."
In 2003, President Bush spoke to the National Religious Broadcasters. He told them at their convention, "America has always been a religious nation -- perhaps never more than now." He received a standing ovation when he declared the war in Iraq to be a cause defined by the religious absolutes of "good versus evil, right versus wrong, human dignity and freedom versus tyranny and oppression." In that speech, the President went on to say that our nation sought no selfish gain in this war and that we were "on the side of God." I'm sure Mr. Bush was sincere, but it's a scary thought to say God is on our side.
Am I a simplistic believer of the teachings of Jesus? Is there a place for pacifists in the Catholic Church in the U.S.? Were the late John Paul II and our American bishops wrong to state that the Iraqi war is wrong and unnecessary? Did our country try everything before we declared war? Can any nation declare that it is the instrument of God? As we study and live the teachings of Jesus, are we invited to give the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-12) a chance in our times, in our country? What does it mean when Jesus says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, they will be called the Children of God?"
As a follower of Jesus, like you, like other Americans and like people around the world, how do we live those RADICAL teachings of Jesus? G.K. Chesterton once said, "It is not that Christianity has been tried and found wanting. It is that it has never been tried."
The Peace of Jesus Christ be with you, by dear sisters and brothers! Like you, I want to be faithful to the Gospel. Hard work, isn't it?
Fr. Bill
P.S. Let's pray the prayer of St. Francis:
"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace..."
And shouldn't we follow Jesus, Prince of Peace?
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