Ordinary 25

The Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Wisdom 2:12, 17-20; Psalm 54; James 3:16 – 4:3; Mark 9:30-37

“To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay”. President Biden, 26 August 2021.

We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay. For the first time in my life, I can honestly say, that words, these words, felt like a physical kick to my body. I felt great sadness.

Other words immediately came to mind: “love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you”.[Matthew 5:44]; “neither do I condemn you.” [John 8:11]; “death would hunt Jesus down” [from a proposed Eucharist Prayer]. I felt like 37 years of preaching the Gospel had been wasted. There was no outcry against these words of threatening punishment. I had to wonder, how many people who call themselves Christians agreed with these words?

In that same presidential speech, I found it abhorrent that the words of the prophet Isaiah were manipulated for political use. The reference, the courts of heaven and God asks, “Whom shall I send? Who shall go for us?” The answer, “Here I am, Lord, send me” is not the military through the ages responding but Isaiah accepting the role of prophet to the exiled House of Israel.

There is a vast difference between the moral underpinnings of working for peace and acts of retribution and vengeance.

Last week in relation to the September 11 attack I queried, how could we have responded differently? We would seem not to want to reflect and respond differently. I quoted G. K. Chesterton that “[Christianity] has been found difficult; and left untried.” He was wrong. Christianity has out rightly been rejected.

From Saint Augustine to Saint Thomas Aquinas to contemporary moral thinkers and teachers the answer as to whether retribution and vengeance can be considered a just cause for war, can even be threatened, is a resounding, “No!” The United States bishops in 1983 taught that Catholic teaching on war and peace starts from a “presumption against war” and violence.

In this light, are we willing to answer the question posed to us by the Letter of James? “Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? James does not wait for us to answer. I presume he knows that we do not want to reflect, so he answers for us. “Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? They come from your jealously, selfish ambition, the desire to possess, and envy.

Just days ago the Jewish community marked their holiest day, Yom Kippur, the Day of Forgiveness. This day teaches that only true forgiveness restores moral parity because I am no better than you; we are no better than others.

I’m not sure what else to say except to ask, can anyone give me a reason why I should continue preaching the Gospel? It seems not to make much difference.

[See So You’ve Been Canceled: A Yom Kippur Atonement Guide by David Wolpe, New York Times, 14 September 2021]