Mary Provides A Profound Model For Peace
On January 1, we began the New Year with the Solemnity of Mary, Holy Mother of God, the Principle Patroness of the Diocese of Evansville. January 1 of this year also marked the Fiftieth World Day of Peace. Though this year’s January 1 fell on a Sunday, the number of people turning out for Mass was far less than the previous weekend of Christmas Masses. Still, the liturgical celebration at St. Benedict Cathedral was quite prayerful, joyful and spirit-filled. Our Diocesan Patroness, Mary, Mother of God, provides a profound modeling for peace.
As is done each year, the Holy Father provided a message for the occasion of celebrating the World Day of Peace. Entitling his Message, “Nonviolence: a Style of Politics for Peace,” Pope Francis recalled the words of Blessed Pope Paul VI for the first World Day of Peace, addressed to all peoples; “Peace is the only true direction of human progress—and not the tensions caused by ambitious nationalisms, nor conquests by violence, nor repressions which serve as mainstay for a false civil order.” Noting the significance and urgency of this message for today, Pope Francis stated; “When victims of violence are able to resist the temptation to retaliate, they become the most credible promotors of nonviolent peacemaking. In the most local and ordinary situations and in the international order, may nonviolence become the hallmark of our decisions, our relationships and our actions, and indeed of political life in all its forms.”
The gospel reading for the Solemnity on January 1 included the Gospel of Luke 2:16-21, in which we are told that Mary, in her amazement at what was happening and being said about her newborn child, “kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” For Luke, Mary is a symbol of the church. If we are to be promotors of peace, we must be able to respond rather than to react to one another. Despite all that she encountered with her Son, from an unexplainable birth to a horrifying death, having “kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart,” Mary was able to respond to God’s will in the events related to her life and family. She never wavered from her mission as Mother of God. Her mission was rooted in a life of reflection, gratitude, trust and prayer.
Shortly after becoming a bishop, I attended a communication workshop that was sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. This particular workshop focused on media relations. The ultimate takeaway from the workshop was that one needs to be able to approach an interview as message-driven rather than question-driven. In other words, in order to respond rather than merely react, one must be clear about purpose and mission rather than being susceptible to the winds of change, fear, anxiety, hatred and indifference.
Inspired by the example of our Patroness, Mary, Mother of God, we must be mission-driven as witnesses of peace, ambassadors of Jesus Christ. This is what it means to be missionary disciples, responding to our baptismal call as Christians to proclaim the Gospel rather than be driven by others to react contrary to our dignity as People of God. It all starts with the human heart, which is most profoundly shaped by experience within the family.
Countering violence with violence, or even threats of violence, only adds to suffering rather than providing any type of cure for a broken world. In his message for the 50thWorld Day of Peace, Pope Francis commented; “Jesus himself lived in violent times. Yet he taught that the true battlefield, where violence and peace meet, is the human heart…Jesus marked out the path of nonviolence. He walked that path to the very end, to the cross, whereby he became our peace and put an end to hostility.” The Holy Father pointed out; “If violence has its source in the human heart, then it is fundamental that nonviolence be practiced before all else within families.” Thus, the Pope Francis added; “The family is the indispensable crucible in which spouses, parents and children, brothers and sisters, learn to communicate and to show generous concern for one another, and in which frictions and even conflicts have to be resolved not by force but by dialogue, respect, concern for the good of the other, mercy and forgiveness.”
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops established a Task Force to Promote Peace in our Communities, headed by Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta. In his final report, released earlier this month, he recommended the following local action items (both parish-based and diocesan level): (1) Prayer; (2) Local Dialogues; (3) Intercultural Competence Training; (4) Foster Opportunities for Encounter; and (5) Accessing Funding through the Catholic Campaign for Human Development to Promote Empowerment and Engagement.
The issue here is not just about friction between nations, political parties, religions and ethnic groups. The choice for peace over violence begins with one’s own person, family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and classmates. All is inter-connected. Rarely, if ever, is there a perfect relationship. No relationship, no matter how seemingly great or small, is insignificant. It all matters to God. It must all matter to us.
To transform a broken world, to mend relationships, to bind up wounds, heal lives and restore dignity, necessarily requires something more than mere human ingenuity. It demands something beyond what science and technology can provide. As Christians, we must look to the transformative power of Jesus Christ who provides us with the blueprint of prayer, witness, sacrifice, mercy and love. As Pope Francis so often reminds us, embracing such a blueprint demands that we also embrace courage, humility and generosity. As modeled by Mary, the first and foremost disciple of her Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ, by means of these virtues, the proper reflections of the heart enables us to maintain the proper focus of our mission of peace. We can never transform the world by reacting to violence with violence, whether in word or deed, but only through a willingness to embrace the cross. It certainly is not easy, but it is the only way toward lasting peace and true justice. Ultimately, we must be willing and able to surrender. To be clear, we dare not surrender to the ways of the world or even to ourselves. Like Mary, our Patroness, we must surrender to ways of God alone, made known to us through Jesus Christ and sustained by the Holy Spirit.
All can be summed up in the words of Michael R. Simone, in his reflection on the gospel reading for the January 1 Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God: “When we give ourselves over to Christ’s mission in big ways and small, we bring Christ into the world in new ways.” [America, December 19-26, 2016, p. 39] Being mission-driven, we are given to respond as part of the solution rather react as part of the problem. Mary, Queen of Peace, Pray for Us!
