Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalms 71(72); Romans 15:4-9; Mathew 3:1-12
The King of Peace
Dear friends, today is the second Sunday of Advent Year A. The main theme during this week is the Messiah, King of Peace. Peace is one of the most essential and universal needs for all creatures. Where there is peace, there is development and prosperity. Where there is no peace, there is destruction and death. Because of the lack of peace, many people in the world live in fear and pain; the environment is polluted, and there is a lot of death and destruction. The Messiah, who is going to be reborn in our hearts, calls us to embrace peace wherever we are.
God sent his only Son to bring peace to the world. The Prophet Isaiah tries to paint a picture of the days of the promised Messiah. “He will be full of wisdom and insight, counsel and power, knowledge and fear of the Lord” – these are the requisites for any leader who wants to bring peace to his or her people. “He will judge justly and not from hearsay but with integrity” – judging from hearsay is one of the leading causes of hatred and conflict among communities. During His days, there will be such peace that everything and everyone will coexist without conflict; a cow will be friends with the bear, and the infant will play over the cobra’s hole without harm, etc. The challenging question for us, who are reliving this moment every year, is: Do we embrace the peace that Christ brings us? Are we agents of peace, or are we warmongers?
One of the visible signs of the existence of peace in any community is unity and coexistence among people from different ethnic backgrounds, political affiliations, and different religious beliefs. There is a big difference between being peaceful and being calm. Some nations are said to be peaceful, but when you go to the ground, you realize that people have no genuine self-determination but are muscled or coaxed to be calm. The problem is that calmness is time-bound; people can tolerate injustice only for a limited time. A time will come when the calm mode situation is no longer tenable for people who are searching for true peace and self-determination.
One day, a young man came to my office to ask me to help bring his wife, who had left him, back. When I called the wife, she told me that she had persevered for a long time, hoping that he would change his bad ways. Instead, he beat her; that’s why she decided to leave. The question we often skip asking is, “What is peace?” In a nutshell, peace is not the absence of war or conflict but harmony with oneself, with others, with the environment in which you live, and with God. Are you experiencing true peace right now?
Though Christ came from the Jewish people, his mission was to bring the whole world together, making all sons and daughters of one Father. During his time, there was a lot of discrimination among the people based on their beliefs. The Jews discriminated against the non-Jews, calling them pagans. Faith is a very sensitive aspect of human life, and that’s why conflict between religions can be dangerous. This is because what we believe determines our attitudes and actions. If you ask around, you will realize that the majority of people have inherited their faith from family or community. Only a few change their religion as adults; the majority do not because they have found a better one, but because of marriage, work, influence from friends, political interests, business ventures, etc., so that they may fit in. Of course, some genuinely seek and find the religion in which they connect better with God. Unfortunately, some selfish and reckless leaders use religion to discriminate and divide people for their own selfish political interests. Religious conflicts are very personal, emotional, indiscriminate, and unending. They start with reckless comments and end up with bloodshed.
In the Gospel passage, John the Baptist begins to call people to receive the baptism of repentance as a preparation for the coming of the Messiah. However, he was astonished to see the Pharisees and the Sadducees also approaching. He knew that their motive was not repentance, but that they were curious and wanted to play it safe. They called themselves sons of Abraham, but they had no faith in the Messiah who was promised by the prophets. Today, we have many such people who claim to be believers but who do not practice the tenets of their faith. They visit worship places occasionally and make sure that everyone notices them. John rebuked them for claiming to be sons of Abraham, yet they had nothing in common with him. He called them the brood of vipers. Are you one of them?
Dear friends, it is not enough to be baptized for you to be a true believer. Our conduct is what qualifies us to be sons and daughters of God. Many are baptized, yet they are agents of discrimination, injustice, and conflict in communities. Jesus taught that “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Mathew 5:9). In our efforts to build true and lasting peace, let us not forget that justice is the foundation. I invite you today to reflect on the true meaning of peace and ask yourself whether you are peaceful or just calm.
Have a peaceful Sunday.
Fr. Lawrence Muthee SVD
(See also http://www.svdkentan.com)
SVD JAMBO KENTAN 