FAUSTO GOMEZ OP
In the previous column, we presented the first two requirements of peacemaking today, namely, (1) be at peace with yourself and with God, and (2) be at peace with your immediate family and community. In this column, we continue with two more requirements for peacemaking (3 and 4).
(3) WITH YOUR COMMUNITIES, BE A BUILDER OF PEACE
Jesus says: Happy are the peacemakers; they shall be called children of God” (Mt 5:9). The method of the peacemakers is this: from within to without; from small community to large community; from parish to diocese to region; from nation to world. St. Paul advises us: “Do all you can to live at peace with everyone” (Rom 12:18).
I have to promote peace with others. I have to work for justice and solidarity, for the promotion of the solidarity of globalization without marginalization. With all men and women of good will, I have to promote peace nonviolently, peacefully. I have to talk with others the language of peace and spread around the symbols of peace. To promote peace socially, I have to be truthful and responsibly free. I have to promote with others justice, human rights and integral development and the integrity of creation. I have to journey by the paths of justice and love – the paths of virtues. A Buddhist Cambodian Monk writes:
Tenderness puts peace in the heart.
A peaceful heart puts peace in the human being.
A peaceful human being puts peace in a family.
A peaceful family puts peace in a community.
A peaceful community puts peace in a nation.
A peaceful nation puts peace in the world.
Yesterday and today, there were and are many martyrs for the sake of justice: for practicing and promoting fearlessly justice and love. The angelic doctor: “not only does he who suffers for his faith in Christ suffers for Christ, but also, he who suffers for any action of justice for the love of Christ.”
(4) BE AT PEACE WITH THE WHOLE CREATION
The human person is a microcosm, that is, a unique individual, a rational and free being. He is also a member of the macrocosm, that is, a responsible person, a child of the universe. A creature of God, he is co-creator with him and under him: he was created by God to have dominion over the whole earth (Gen 1:28), to work for the integrity of creation. Interesting what evangelical theologian Jonathan Wilson says, commenting Gen 1:28: “Note that the command to subdue the earth and have dominion over it is given to humanity before the Fall. It is one thing to tell sinless humanity to subdue and have dominion, it is quite another to say this to sinful, fallen humanity. Accounts of this command have not usually given enough attention to this difference”(Gospel Virtues. Practicing Faith, Hope and Love in Uncertain Times). Initially, the relationship of man and woman with God and his creation was one of love. With the Fall into sin, that relationship became a relationship of separation and of power – a broken relationship.
As creatures of the universe, all human beings ought to respect and improve nature, and not exploit it irresponsibly and dictatorially. We remember the significant words of Venerable Fulton Sheen: Moral garbage is the cause of ecological garbage.
Concerned humans and Christians must spread out ecological awareness (detached from narrowing ideologies), ecological responsibility, and struggle peacefully in solidarity with others against environmental pollution and imbalance, and for a share by all persons and peoples of the common heritage that is the earth.
We need icons and models of authentic ecological concern. For us Christians, and after Christ, the saints, in particular the mystics, are excellent paradigms. The mystics are not only concerned with the union with God, but also with the union with the neighbor and with creation, sacrament of God. In reality, a deeper union with God implies a deeper commitment to neighbor and creation. No wonder St. Francis of Assisi is, since 1979, the patron saint of ecologists, and Assisi is now a school of peace – a lovely place to speak of peace and to pray for peace.
Words to ponder: Since “I fell in love with you, Lord, and now the universe and everything in it tells me to love you, and tells the same thing to us all, so that we are without excuse” (St. Augustine Confessions).
To be at peace with creation, we also need to be at peace with God, which is the foundational peace: “If man is not at peace with God, neither the earth is at peace” (John Paul II, Message, Peace with God the Creator, Peace with All Creation, January 1, 1990).
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