No Morality, No Peace: Becoming Architects of Peace
Zechariah 9:9-10; Romans 8:9, 11-13; Matthew 11:25-30
Whether as “the absence of war” or “wholeness,” peace/shalom is a rare commodity around the world. Our usual route for attaining peace, our peace architectural complexes—military and technology—stand as monuments for everything besides peace, because they have never delivered on peace. The size of our national army portends war more than peace, and the measure of our technological advancement is its potency to dominate others. Simply check how much is budgeted for poverty alleviation and how many have ever been brought out of poverty, in order to understand how the absence of peace is orchestrated by outlandish military budgets. Yet, for those of us who are of Judeo-Christian tradition, our first reading today prophesies peace: “he shall proclaim peace to the nations” (Zachariah 9:10). When will this prophecy become a reality, when shall we know peace?
The Babylonian exile was still fresh on their minds and the devastation visited on Judah by Nebuchadnezzar stared them in the face, as Zachariah prophesied peace to the returnee exiles. It was clear to them that peace will take more than a wishful thinking and a prophecy—human labor is part of peace. Yes, our modern terminology—peace-building—owes its origins to this reality, the rebuilding of Jerusalem. The memories—Zachariah—of what the Temple and the city were afforded them the blue-print for what was to be rebuilt, with an opportunity for a creative improvement on what used to be. The hope that the job will be completed some day animated the courage with which they began life anew. Their faith was built on the word of God, and the prophecy of God’s servant, Zachariah. Day-dreaming was over with, hard work had started. Indeed, the Temple was rebuilt—the Second Temple—it took sweat, concerted effort and faith.
A less talked about part of the rebuilding of Jerusalem as peace—which is the point of today’s readings—is the moral rebuilding of the people who rebuilt Jerusalem. The moral decadence that sent them to Babylon and occasioned the destruction of the Temple, lives and property had to be made right. The experience of the exile not only afforded them a period of retreat, repentance and penance, but it also provided them with a renewed sense of purpose. They realized that “kingdoms rise and fall,” except those sustained by God’s morality. It was evident to them that moral collapse presages economic, military and structural disintegration. It was their commitment to a moral rejuvenation and a keen sense of their identity as children of God that catalyzed their resolve to reclaim their heritage, God and culture. Military might and technology last up until superior powers emerge to render them and those who count on them outmoded. Those who depend on God remain as current as the immortality of God himself.
The song of praise on the lips of Jesus, in today’s gospel, underscores those who, by having the docility of children, have anchored their peace and security in the practice of Christian virtues. They realized that peace is grounded in obedience to God’s moral principles, and neither in military nor technological prowess. Jesus changes the meaning of power into wisdom and the source of peace into virtue. In a single paragraph, Jesus provides three steps for the attainment of peace and the nature of peace: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light” (Matthew 11:30).
The first step toward peace is to accost Jesus, in order to learn the meaning of peace from him. When one does come to Jesus, the second step is to take up the burden of Jesus, that is, it is to imitate Jesus’ example of sacrificial death for the sake of others—learning to die like Jesus did is the second step in acquiring peace. The implication of “humility and meekness of heart,” which Jesus proposes draws attention to the importance of virtue ethics—the kind of people or human beings we are called to be, not the kind of possessions we should have, so as to attain peace. The third step is to become peace—agent or instrument of peace.
The search for peace does not begin from the physical and material. External peace is a reflection and mirror for reading internal peace. The wars, injustices and chaos we experience emanate from disordered souls and minds that have come to feast on human bodies and physical existences. The “rest of the soul” is what translates into external and world peace. The soul and mind predisposed for goodness, through the practice of virtues, exudes peace. Our second reading corroborates this point in these words: “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13). When the Spirit of God dwells in us and acts in us, peace will flow from it to the world. What we do and fail to do all contribute to the making of peace, just like “putting your money where your mouth is”.
The Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Acquire virtues in your life, and you will guarantee peace in the world. It is now time to walk the walk in adding to talking the talk!
thanks Fr. Very inspiring. God bless you.
I appreciate it. God bless!