THEME: “Reconciliation with God, Others, and with Nature”
From Harmony to Brokenness
The creation account in the Book of Genesis narrates the plan of God in which all creation was in harmony. God and man and woman strolled together in the afternoon in the garden, enjoying each other's company. Nature provided a beautiful and balanced environment and animals were friendly companions. Until sin entered the equation: the Fall. Then as we are reminded in Genesis, the harmony characteristic of God's creation experienced a profound rupture. Man and woman felt a sense of shame and hid from their God and Creator, man and woman began to quarrel, and even their relationship with nature and animal life took another course. We live in a broken and wounded world. The harmony in God’s Plan is broken into a million pieces. No human force could put it back together again!
In other words, when the human being breaks off from God and tries to go it his or her own way, that sin of pride and independence has far-reaching consequences which cut across the wide span of human relationships touching and souring the relationship of man and woman with nature. Cain kills his brother Abel. Humans build the Tower of Babel and ravage nature.
This Creation Story tries to understand and make sense out of our human reality as we experience it. At the basis of our need for reconciliation lies the call to be reconciled with God in the core of our beings in order to be able to build a redeemed and reconciled world. Christ is the new Adam, the new Person, who once again lives in the proper relationship with His God!"I have come to do the Will of my Father!" is His most often expressed desire. And it is in living that correct relationship, in harmony with the Father, that Christ completes His Mission of reconciling all humanity and setting us once again on the right track. Jesus teaches us the truth about ourselves. He teaches us who we are and what we are called to be! In following Him and living according to His Spirit, we are able to attain the fullness of life! Our broken lives can be restored!
St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians writes:
“For he (Christ) is our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh, abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims, that he might create in himself one person in place of the two, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile both with God, in one body, through the cross, putting that enmity to death by it…Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord…” (2:14-16.21)
Reconciliation in the Truth
Many of us have fallen into the traps set by Satan. We have accepted his lies as truths. We believe along with most of humanity today that the truth of our identity lies in success, or in popularity and we strive for that, even in religious life! The competitiveness which causes so much suffering and injustice in our world, can also creep in and poison our hearts and our relationships in religious life. Jesus has come to unmask the lie! Jesus teaches us that the truth of our identity is not found in any of that, but in God's infinite love for us. When we can recognize and embrace this basic truth about ourselves, we experience a deep healing and freedom.
We began our theme of reconciliation this morning by reflecting on the fundamental truth about ourselves, about our own identity grounded in God’s infinite love. We need to appropriate this truth in our lives over and over again, if we are to take the next step: that of being agents of God’s reconciliation with others and with nature.
"And for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old creation has gone, and now the new one is here. It is all God's work. It was God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the work of handing on this reconciliation. In other words, God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself, not holding men's faults against them, and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled. So we are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were appealing through us, and the appeal that we make in Christ's name is: be reconciled to God."
(II Corinthians 5, 17-21)
We are called to be "ambassadors of reconciliation" in our world today, but we will only be able to give peace, if we have attained in our own lives that deep peace and reconciliation in the Blood of Christ. An important part of this process of personal reconciliation lies in accepting the Truth about ourselves. There is profound wisdom in Jesus' words when he gives us the two great Commandments: "Love God and love your neighbor as yourself!" In order to be ambassadors of peace and reconciliation, we must first find it ourselves, for we will speak from the abundance of our hearts.
Reconciliation with Others
A few years ago the world’s attention was drawn to a small Amish community in Lancaster County, PA, called Nickol Mines. This time the attention was not on the beautiful farm lands, Amish cooking, or Amish quilts. A disaster had struck the small community. On October 2, 2007 five school girls were shot and killed and five others seriously wounded in an Amish school house. The assassin, Charles Carl Roberts IV then took his own life.
The Amish taught the world a lesson in Christiandiscipleship. Their witness of forgiveness shocked many. It comes from their simple faith and reading the Scriptures! Passages such as Matthew 18:21-22, Acts 7:54-60, Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:32, and The Lord’s Prayer are studied and internalized by the Amish from childhood. All their life they learn about forgiveness and through hymns and stories of their martyrs they prepare themselves for forgiveness. This is part of their heritage.
Their call to forgiveness stems from the concept of “Uffgevva” which undergirds all of Amish life. WE GIVE UP YOUR RIGHT TO REVENGE, “submitting to God’s perfect will.” It doesn’t make forgiving any easier, but as one Amish Farmer put it: “The acid of hate destroys the container.”(Amish Grace, p. 125)
The authors of the book Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy, (Donald B. Kraybill, Steven M. Nolt, and David L. Weaver-Zercher, Published by Jossey- Bass, 2007) write in the Preface, p. xiv:
“In telling the Amish story, it is important to distinguish forgiveness from both pardon and reconciliation. Whereas in forgiveness the victim forgoes the right to vengeance, pardon releases an offender from punishment altogether. In many cases, pardon can be granted not by the victim but only by a person or institution with disciplinary authority over the offender (such as the judicial system). Reconciliation is the restoration of a relationship, or the creation of a new one, between the victim and the offender. Reconciliation is not necessary for forgiveness to take place, and of course it does not always happen, because it requires the establishment of trust between two willing parties. In many situations, however, reconciliation between victim and offender constitutes the ultimate goal, and forgiveness is a crucial step in that process.”
In the words of the authors one message rings clear regardless of the details of the Nickel Mines story, and that is: “religion was used not to justify rage and revenge but to inspire goodness, forgiveness, and grace. And that is the big lesson for the rest of us regardless of our faith or nationality.” (p. 183)
Amish Graceis a challenge to the rest of us, to more fully embody the teachings of Jesus!In a world where religion spawns so much violence and vengeance, the surprising act of Amish forgiveness begs for deeper consideration.
How do we inflict wounds on our sisters and brothers?
In the light of the Nichol Mine tragedy and its aftermath, we can reflect about the brokenness in our own communities and about how we deal with it.We do not normally have to face such dramatic and tragic situations in our lives. Bullets are not fired and our sisters and brothers are not killed. Well, not in the same way anyway!
How do we cause brokenness? How do we wound one another? A whole day could be spent reflecting on this. But I would like to focus on one area: How do we kill and wound one another? As we know, the tongue can be a powerful weapon in our hands. With the tongue we can tear another’s life and reputation apart, we can wound and kill a relationship.
A story about criticism.
Almost all of us need to work at broadening our mercy and narrowing our criticism. We need to tone down the tendency to view and speak about others critically. Even Christians sometimes forget that Jesus warned his followers to banish critical and judgmental attitudes from their lives. “Stop judging others,” he said simply and succinctly in the Gospel of Matthew (7:1). A critical, judgmental spirit is the opposite of a spirit characterized by love and acceptance. Those who have not learned to curb criticism and suspend judgment create a negative, hostile, and anxious spiritual atmosphere. Consider the lesson in this story about a Hindu, a rabbi, and a critic. While traveling separately through the countryside one afternoon, they were caught in an enormous thunderstorm. They each sought shelter at a nearby farmhouse.
“The storm will be raging for hours,” the farmer told the three. “You should plan to stay here through the night. The problem is, there’s only room enough for two of you. One of you will have to sleep in the barn.”
“Immediately the Hindu volunteered to be the one. “A little hardship is nothing to me,” he said as he made his way to the barn.
“A few minutes later there was a knock on the door. It was the Hindu who apologized, and explained, “There is a cow in the barn. According to my religion, cows are sacred, and one must not intrude into their space.”
“This time, the rabbi quickly stepped forward, saying, “Come in. Make yourself comfortable in the house. I will be happy to sleep in the barn.” However, a few minutes later the rabbi returned to the house, saying, “I hate to cause a problem, but there is a pig in the barn. In my religion, pigs are considered unclean. I wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing my sleeping quarters with a pig.”
“Finally, the critic said: “Oh, all right. I’ll go sleep in the barn.” He quickly made his way there. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the farmhouse door. It was the cow and the pig.”
Criticism is a common cause of woundedness and brokenness in community life. But it is but one way that we hurt one another and cause division among ourselves. (Eastern Wisdom for Western Minds, Victor M. Parachim, Orbis 2007, p. 41-42).
Being messengers of reconciliation calls us to see the good in the other and to see our differences as blessings and an opportunity for enrichment instead of giving way to envy, to competitiveness, and to criticism. Let’s stop killing one another, let’s stop killing the dreamers among us!
A Story from the Native American tradition
A five-year-old boy is sent to spend the summer with his grandfather, who is a highly respected tribal elder. The boy adores his grandfather, observing his every move. After a few days, the boy notices a pattern in his grandfather’s daily routine. Every morning at sunrise, his grandfather goes to a small altar in the corner of his home, takes off a necklace, and places it on the altar. Then he sits in silence for several minutes. Afterward, he puts the necklace back on and continues with his day. Every evening, at sunset, he repeats the same ritual.
Finally, the boy’s curiosity prompts him to ask, “Grandfather, why do you do that every day?”
“I’m taking some time to quiet my spirit and honor our ancestors,” the elder replies.
“But what is on the necklace?” the boy asks.
The grandfather takes off the necklace and shows it to the boy. On it are the heads of two wolves.
“Grandfather, what do they mean?”
“Well,” the grandfather explains, “inside each of us there are two wolves fighting to control us. One of them is scared and mean, and has a hunger that can never be filled. It cares only about itself. The other is brave and kind, and shares whatever it has with others. It cares as much about the community as it does for itself.”
Wide-eyed and intrigued, the boy asks one more question: “Grandfather, which wolf will win?”
The elder smiles at his grandson, replying, “Whichever one we feed the most.”
The moral: When the mind is focused on right thoughts, right actions, right words, right effort, and right understanding, its impact can be enormous. The opposite is equally true. A focus on evil, greed, jealousy, and self-interest can have a horrific impact. Like the tribal elder, we all need to make time to quiet the mind and place our focus on healthy, wholesome thoughts.
We can control the mind. We can think positively. We can seek to see the best, not the worst, in others.
(from Easter Wisdom for Western Minds, Victor M. Parachim, Orbis 2007, p. 37-38)
Reconciliation in Society
Reconciliation in community life is not the only area of reconciliation we need to consider. The brokenness in our homes and communities is symptomatic of the brokenness in the human family. Sin has expanded its tentacles into all realms of life. History is full of examples. I live very close to the living memory of one dark period: that of Hitler’s Third Reich.
Recently I read a very moving book by Nobel Peace Prize Winner Elie Wiesel, Night(1972).A terrifying record of Elie’s memories of the death of his family, the death of his own innocence, and his despair as a deeply observant Jew confronting the absolute evil of man. The book gives his testimony to what happened in the camps and of his unforgettable message that this horror must never be allowed to happen again. He was a teenage in Sighet, Transylvania, when he and his family were taken from their home in 1944 to the Auschwitz concentration camp, and then to Buchenwald.
“I remember that night, the most horrendous of my life: (January 28, 1945)
“…Eliezer, my son, come here … I want to tell you something … Only to you … Come, don’t leave me alone … Eliezer…”
I heard his voice, grasped the meaning of his words and the tragic dimension of the moment, yet I did not move.
It had been his last wish to have me next to him in his agony, at the moment when his soul was tearing itself from his lacerated body – yet I did not let him have his wish.
I was afraid.
Afraid of the blows.
That was why I remained deaf to his cries.
Instead of sacrificing my miserable life and rushing to his side, taking his hand, reassuring him, showing him that he was not abandoned, that I was near him, that I felt his sorrow, instead of all that, I remained flat on my back, asking God to make my father stop calling my name, to make him stop crying. So afraid was I to incur the wrath of the SS.
In fact, my father was no longer conscious.
Yet his plaintive, harrowing voice went on piercing the silence and calling me, nobody but me.
“Well?” The SS had flown into a rage and was striking my father on the head: “Be quiet, old man! Be quiet!”
My father no longer felt the club’s blows; I did. And yet I did not react. I let the SS beat my father, I left him alone in the clutches of death. Worse: I was angry with him for having been noisy, for having cried, for provoking the wrath of the SS.
“Eliezer!Eliezer! Come, don’t leave me alone…”
His voice had reached me from so far away, from so close. But I had not moved.
I shall never forgive myself.
Nor shall I ever forgive the world for having pushed me against the wall, for having turned me into a stranger, for having awakened in me the basest, most primitive instincts.
His last word had been my name. A summons. And I had not responded.
…
I woke up at dawn on January 29. On my father’s cot there lay another sick person. They must have taken him away before daybreak and taken him to the crematorium. Perhaps he was still breathing…
No prayers were said over his tomb. No candle lit in his memory. His last word had been my name. He had called out to me and I had not answered. “(pp. 111-112)
I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim…When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must –at that moment—become the center of the universe…
There is so much injustice and suffering crying out for our attention: victims of hunger, of racism and political persecution…Too much blood shed. This must stop! When their voices are stifled we shall lend them ours. Our lives no longer belong to us alone; they belong to all those who need us desperately. (Night, p. 118-120)
What a moving story. A true story,unfortunately, too often repeated in the course of history. We need to ask ourselves: how could this happen? We need to stand appalled, yes, but we also need to look into our own lives to see how we might contribute to these kinds of holocausts.
As Christians and as peoples marked by the Precious Blood of reconciliation, we are called to hear the cries of those who suffer exclusion, persecution, suffering, and even death due to their race, or creed, or sexual orientation. How do we respond? Are we indifferent? Do we choose to ignore? Do we participate in the sin of racism of prejudice?
We are called to be bridge-builders rather than fence-builders!
Another area where our world is fractured and wounded, is in the realm of nature and the environment.
Once again, we listen to the words of St. Paul:
“Through Him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of the cross.”(Colossians 2:19-20)
Albert Einstein once said: “A human being is a part of a whole…He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest…a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us…Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures.”
The fragmentation which took place and which entered our world with sin is not limited just to our interior lives, to our community living, to social situations, but it also has affected nature. The many ecological problems we face in our world today, from the stripping of our rain forests to the problem of the oxone layer, are the results of imbalance and the imprudent use of nature by human beings. In other words, we are not in the proper relationship with nature. Reconciliation is needed here as well.
A story of Ganesh, the elephant-headed god
We have a lot to learn in the Western world when we speak about compassion. We immediately think of compassion toward other people. However, in the East there is an enormous emphasis on the importance of practicing compassion toward all living things, including animals and even the smallest of insects. Let’s listen to a story:
“One story begins with Ganesh, the elephant-headed god, playing in a garden. Nearby in the house, his mother, the goddess Parvati, was preparing dinner. Out of boredom, Ganesh picked up a little kitten, playing with it rather roughly. She did not enjoy the rough play and hissed at Ganesh, hoping he would stop. He didn’t listen, but rather continued bouncing, shaking, and finally dropping the kitten, leaving her with a scratch on her face.
“Ganesh then went inside to see his mother and was shocked to see fresh blood on her face.
“Mother, who did that to you?” he asked, filled with rage. “I will teach them a lesson they won’t forget. No one can hurt you. I won’t permit it!”
“But. Son, you gave me this scratch,” she explained gently.
“No, I didn’t. I would never hurt you.”
“You did not know you were hurting me, my child. But when you scratched that little kitten, my face was scratched. Whenever you hurt any part of nature, you harm me and all of nature as well. Be more careful, my son.”
Spiritual wisdom from the East reminds us that animals –including insects—are not merely other creatures with human humans happen to share the planet. They are our companions and teachers and exhibit qualities that humans would do well to imitate. (Eastern Wisdom for Western Minds,” Victor M. Parachin, Orbis 2007, p. 35-36).
Pope Benedicthas been named the “Green Pope” by some since he has on more than one occasion expressed concerns for the stewardship of creation.While in Australia recently for the World Youth Day he commented:
“The world’s natural resources are being squandered in the pursuit of insatiable consumption.”
“Perhaps reluctantly we come to acknowledge that there are also scars which mark the surface of our earth: erosion, deforestation, the squandering of the world’s mineral and ocean resources in order to fuel an insatiable consumption.”
“Types of “poison” are afflicting the world’s social environment, such as substance abuse, along with the exaltation of violence and sexual degradation, for which he blamed television and the internet.”
“The concerns for nonviolence, sustainable development, justice and peace, and care for our environment are of vital importance for humanity.”
The Cry of the Earth!
The Cry of the earth is heard only one time explicitly in the Bible: JOB 31:38-40: “If my land has cried out against me till its very furrows complained; if I have eaten its produce without payment and grieved the hearts of its tenants; then let the thistles grow instead of wheat and noxious weeds instead of barley!” The earth cries because it is misused, violated, because it has been mistreated by an unscrupulous patron and for the purpose of exploiting the farm workers who depend on him.
We read in Romans 8:19-22:“For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God; for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now.” Our earth is subjected to cruel and dispassionate abuse at the whim of her inhabitants. Her skin is festering with wounds. The house which God made for us and which was seen as very good, is becoming each day less hospitable. The land belongs to God and, for this reason, belongs to all. We cannot remain indifferent. The earth is home for everyone, it is our common table, the place where we are called to share with dignity as equals. We are “ecologists” not by profession or by political party, but by faith.
Our indigenous brothers and sisters can teach us so much about the proper relationship with mother earth. In our missions in Guatemala the profound respect the indigenous have for the earth is evident. One such example are the elaborate ceremonies they have developed before preparing the land for planting. They first will ask permission of mother earth before they will penetrate her in the planting. And also, they do not believe that individuals should own the land, since the land is communal. God gave us the land for all to use. It should never become a means of exploitation of others.
God created the world and the earth breathed HARMONY and God’s dream was fulfilled! Everything was in its proper relationship.Sin destroyed this harmony. The earth was violated and the covenant was broken and is in need of reconciliation. (The image from Poland of Christ sitting with his head resting on His hand: “What have they done with my world?”)
Paul's letter to the Ephesians states:
"God has given us the wisdom to understand fully the mystery, the plan he was pleased to decree in Christ, to be carried out in the fullness of time: namely, to bring all things in the heavens and on earth into one under Christ's leadership" (2, 9-10)
Jesus comes to restore nature and bring us back into harmony once again.
This is an area which we must develop much more in order to discover our mission as peoples marked with the Blood of the Lamb.
Nature restored—harmony refound: Isaiah 11, 6-9
“Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
And the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
With a little child to guide them.
The cow and the bear shall be neighbors,
Together their young shall rest;
The lion shall eat hay like the ox.
The baby shall play by the cobra’s den,
And the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.
There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain;
For the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord,
As water covers the sea.”
In the end, the glory of God consists in that the earth be earth, the tree be tree, fire be fire, and that man/woman be fully persons and that people live together in communion. No one has the right to abuse nature, persons and things. Humans can certainly develop but cannot betray. Instead of fulfilling his role as collaborator with God in the work of creation, man supplants God and in so doing provokes the rebellion of nature tyrannized rather than governed by him.
We are called to respect, care for, and defend NATURE… and all of life! (JP II ,Evangelium Vitae). We Christians must be the first to raise our voices against pollution, the destruction of the Amazons, and of animal species…the contamination of waters, global warning, reckless use of our resources, etc.
All of nature opens up before us as a place of finding God who calls us to meditation, contemplation, praise. All of this is but a reflection of God’s beauty. All things have a certain sacredness about them that we must respect. Meister Eckhart once said: “Every creature is full of God and is a book about God.”
”We find salvation by returning to the unity in which we were created. Our salvation is merely a re-integration of unity with God and all of creation, a unity which has been fractured by sin, by our living out of our inner brokenness which causes deeper disunity.” (Gerard Straub in Blind Beggar, p. 101)
Reconciliation is about putting things in their proper relationships, with God, with self, with one another, with nature. In Relationship to nature, we can say that the person must fulfill his/her mission to
As “lord” to dominate it
As “brother/sister” to care for it
As “worker” to transform it
As “child of God” to contemplate it
As “believer” to transfigure it and loan it his/her voice to praise the Lord.
Sent on Mission: Ambassadors of Reconciliation (“Wounded Healers”)
We are called to be “ambassadors of reconciliation” (II Corinthians 5:16-21) in our world today, but we will only be able to give peace, if we have attained in our own lives that deep peace and reconciliation in the Blood of Christ. In order to be ambassadors of peace and reconciliation, we must first find it ourselves, for we will speak from the abundance of our hearts.
We are called to be “ambassadors of reconciliation” not due to our own merits, but precisely because we are weak. Paul writes in First Corinthians: “God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God.” (1:26-29)
And finally, our weakness and sinfulness daily reminds us “we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.” And a little further on he continues: “For we who live are constantly being given up to death for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” (II Corinthians 4:7.11)
God sends us forth, as he did Peter, the wounded healer, to be “messengers of reconciliation in the truth” and to help others discover “the gift of the Precious Blood which speaks of the greatest joy of all: knowing that we are loved by God.”
Angels of Peace
At Sonnino, that small mountain town known as the center of banditry and the city saved from destruction thanks to the intercession of St. Gaspar before the Holy Father, there is a plaque on the wall of a small square near our Church, which commemorates the Gaspar’s ministry in that town. On it Gaspar is called “the angel of peace.” We beg St. Gaspar to help us to become inflamed with his missionary zeal and to become “angels of peace, ambassadors of reconciliation.” And we ask St. Maria De Mattias to fill us with charity, God’s love, for our dear neighbor, for our sisters and brothers, for the poor and the needy, and for “brother son” and “sister moon.” After having found a deep peace in our own hearts, the gift of the Risen Lord, may we share that peace with all those with whom we journey each day.
Edwina Gateley once remarked that “God is the Great Illegal Immigrant,” implying that each person is a SANCTUARY OF THE DIVINE, including the poor and the unacceptable. All of us are united as in a sacred web of Love….We are all connected, one with all of creation and the Creator. If one amongst us is diminished, we are all diminished.
As we reflect upon this complex theme of reconciliation, we discover that we are both saints and sinners. In each of us, there is a little bit of both. Today is a day to come face to face with how we contribute to the brokenness of our world of relationships and with our natural world and environment. At the same time, we turn to God, the only one who can put our world back together again. We ask for the grace of forgiveness and the grace to carry that forgiveness and healing balm of God’s love to the world as God’s ambassadors of reconciliation, to be ourselves “angels of peace!”
Most gracious and compassionate God, we come to you, asking for your healing and reconciling touch. You call us to be reflections of your love and invite us to share in your forgiveness and peace. Enlighten us that we might come to know the reconciliation that is needed in our own hearts, as well as in our communities, dioceses and nation strained by conflict. Give us awareness of the ways we have each contributed to disunity and separation in this world. Help us be wise enough to claim responsibility for those actions, thoughts and words that divide us from each other. Make us strong enough to continue to work for reconciliation and peace, no matter what the personal cost.
As daughters of St. Maria De Mattias and as sons of St. Gaspar, whose spirit calls us to reconciliation through the Blood of your Son, we call on you now, God of all mercy, as we trust in your guiding and sustaining love. We are one in You. Help us now to be one with each other and with all of Creation. Barry Fischer, C.PP.S.
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