‘Tis the season when we hope that there can be peace on earth—the whole earth…while we realize that world peace will ever fall short. After all, the angelic declaration of “peace on earth” was to persons with little chance of affecting widespread peace in their environs: they were shepherds; persons of little respect (because they left their families unattended [i.e., vulnerable] for extended periods of time). Why were the angels wasting their chorus on this ilk? How can God hope to instill peace on earth?…unless the divine plan is to show how costly peace is. Witness:
A few years ago when an assailant killed several children in an Amish community school, their response was beyond the pale: collective forgiveness! Never did they, as a group, consider killing this crazy man. One might say, “Well, our Western society handled justice for the Amish.” Perhaps, or perhaps not. But they shone as a true Christian community with the courage to extend peace, not by justifying the heinous crime, but by not repeating deadly force at their own hands.
On October 31, 2010, at the evening Sunday Mass, a group of militant Iraqis stormed a Syrian Catholic Church and assaulted the congregation. The two priests at Mass were the first to be shot dead, followed by over thirty others. All toll, about seventy other congregation members were wounded and surely all of them were terrorized before emergency police forces finally ended the affair. It is a very sad situation for the Chaldean and Syrian Christians who have dwelled in the region of Iraq for over a thousand years. Now they have been the target of attacks for several years (ever since the political realm is up for grabs). This community has not retaliated, even if they had the means to do so. They are embracing a costly Christ-like peace.
Looking for a sign from God? Is not the most stunning sign from God the spirit power that will not betray respect for another’s life? Jesus did not retaliate nor did he endorse or justify revenge. He implored his disciples to embrace the cost of human dignity by absorbing violence, not as a victim, but as the strong one, a martyr. Putting this ethic into action is very complicated (e.g., we never justify nor passively allow abuse or assault) and it takes some kind of spirit to do so with the grace of Christ. It requires a spiritual peace that truly is beyond understanding.
So I wonder how well I/we can face and endure the sacrifice that manifests grace. The peace of Christ will be known in this.
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace to people of good will.” We have all week (till Christmas comes) to ponder how this works…how it stretches me/you…how we reflect this…how we are invited to the life of the Spirit. Oh, the world needs spiritual communities. So, as we celebrate Christmas—the Word become incarnate—let us be awake to that incarnation among us/within us today…and how we are heralds of this “peace on earth,” truly, a necessary hope for the world.
No more let sin and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove the glories of his righteousness, and wonders of his love, and wonders of his love, and wonders of his love.
(Joy to the World, vv. 3, 4)
